Should Driverless Cars be Controlled?

With driverless cars on the horizon, former government advisor David Begg believes transport authorities should have control of variables such as speed.

David begs the question should driverless cars be controlled? HighwaysIndustry.Com asks: could this sort of authoritative forcefulness damage an industry that is just starting up?

In his report: London 2050: Driverless Transport, professor Begg says the Tfl could limit such cars to 15mph in danger spots such as outside schools at particular times of day.

Mr Beg is nevertheless a pro advocate for these emerging tools, saying it could cut accidents, utilise full road space and make cycling and walking safer.

He recommends the use of collision sensors on buses which have already been piloted in London, suggesting there could be a fast transit lane for large vehicles that drive just inches apart.

The report comes in hand with emerging technology like the commuting pods being trialled in Milton Keynes this summer or the flurry of car companies investing in the technology including Google and Volvo.

Google are now perfecting the art of cyclist recognition, a spokesman said: “As it turns out, what looks chaotic and random on a city street to the human eye is actually fairly predictable to a computer. As we’ve encountered thousands of different situations, we’ve built software models of what to expect, from the likely (a car stopping at a red light) to the unlikely (blowing through it).

“We still have lots of problems to solve, including teaching the car to drive more streets in Mountain View [Google’s home town] before we tackle another town, but thousands of situations on city streets that would have stumped us two years ago can now be navigated autonomously.”