A road safety charity has called for British drivers to be better educated about autonomous vehicle technology, including making it part of the driving test.
IAM RoadSmart said its research had revealed that the majority of drivers are not ready to take their hands off the steering wheel, ‘despite the fact that has huge potential to improve road safety’.
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Research as part of its annual Safety Culture Report, which gauges drivers’ attitudes to key road safety issues over time, discovered that 59% of drivers agree with the idea that the growing ability of vehicles to drive themselves is a serious risk to their personal safety.
While opinions did not vary significantly by age, women were particularly concerned, with 67% rating the development as a threat.
The charity argued that automated vehicle technology could drastically reduce collisions, ‘but this will only happen if the new systems are used correctly, which will only be achieved through effective driver education and correct marketing campaigns which help motorists understand the technology’s capabilities and limitations’.
Director of policy and research Neil Greig said: ‘Perhaps due to misinformation and an overabundance of technical jargon, the public still remains to be fully convinced new technology which in theory has the potential to reduce many collisions on Britain’s roads, saving thousands of deaths and injuries.
‘In order for this trust to be gained, we recommend that proper education of automated technology is included in the UK driving test, giving motorists the opportunity to learn about how it works, which will at least go some way towards alleviating the anxieties many understandably have at present.’
He added: ‘Equally, drivers must also recognise that an over reliance on these systems could also have a negative impact on road safety, with potentially worrying results for motorists and pedestrians alike.’
IAM RoadSmart said its call for education is heightened by the fact that the UK has given the approval for partially self-driving vehicles on motorways using systems such as ALKS (Automatic Lane Keeping Assist), as well as fresh predictions that one in 10 of all vehicles will be at least partially autonomous by 2030.
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