These driverless lorries

[StealthPolarBear]

Will have drivers in them just in case.
So what's the benefit?
Or is this just while they're being tested

They were arguing that really we should be increasing rail capacity and taking freight off our congested roads.

That is being done. It is called HS2

I don't think we'll be buying them. Technology like that will be out of the range of most. They'll be run by companies who will do all the upkeep. We'll just order them online. Just think no coaxing crappy old cars through MOTs.

When I'm driving, I come off the gas and have my foot hovering over the brake if I pass something like kids playing football or a someone walking a dog off the lead.

I think the Google cars do track pedestrians, according to some video I saw which showed a dotted box around every object the car classified. So presumably they could make some allowance for what they might do next. (Though it's already the case that we expect pedestrians to know they might end up dead if they step in front of a car, so I'm not sure they should make much allowance. We should probably program the cars to run pedestrians down in some circumstances, otherwise teenage boys will delight in stopping traffic.)

I think it will being far more equality on roads.

That said, I'm not actually against autonomous vehicles. Motorway driving would be much more efficient without all the phantom traffic jams caused by people driving badly and/or gawping at stuff on the other side of the road, etc.

But there are a range of complex issues to be thought through.

Only think that would worry me is if the whole system went down in a power cut. We'd all be stuck at home and could potentially starve if in rural areas.

Good point ironing. Presumably once there is no requirement for a car to have a driver they will just be communal type things rather than a family or personal possession

I also think the traffic will be managed remotely with the individual vehicles just checking for potential collisions

I think the answer to that would be "on yer bike" :o

I think the answer to that would be "on yer bike" :o

OH works in warehousing and logistics for a major retailer. He can't see the point. Eg. He will be sending one lorry to Exeter, one to Truro and one to St Ives. It's bad enough getting one lorry into some of these places let alone 3 with restricted access.

I think this could be brilliant for encouraging short distances to be by foot or bike actually. I hope this is taking public health into account and finding opportunities

Driverless vehicles won't speed
Driverless vehicles won't fall asleep
Driverless vehicles won't use mobile phones
Driverless vehicles won't become distracted

Or pony and cart(full circle).

I am probably being really thick, sorry, but how does having a convoy of vehicles save money on fuel? Are the second and third lorries not using fuel then? How are they moving?

If the other lorries have drivers who are just steering, surely they are being paid, so where is the saving?

Also, many motorists won't recognise that the lorries are an electronically joined convoy - looking at the gap between them, I can guarantee that some motorists will slip into that gap. What happens then?

Genuine questions - apologies if I haven't understood it properly.

Oh, and driving lorries is not a low skilled job.

Fuel is saved due to tailgating
Drafting can save 40% of energy do two drafting lorries would save 80%

If you watch cycling on the track, they take turns on the front as the two or three behind are saving energy

My other worries are crime and mind changing. Presumably there will be options for car sharing. Wouldn't be keen on getting into a driverless car/ bus and find myself alone in a situation I wasn't comfortable with and no human driver. Also if you got a message on a pre ordered route and had to change direction you'd need to be able to program it yourself.

Thanks Ivy that makes sense.

Another question - obviously the lorries will be going from X town to Y town, not simply driving up and down a motorway. Isn't there a chance that whilst in town traffic, they could get separated as they cannot get through traffic lights together or out of junctions?

Surely this would pose a danger in town driving if lorry one goes through a green light and by the time lorry two or three goes through there's a risk of a collision as the light has gone red?

""Also if you got a message on a pre ordered route and had to change direction you'd need to be able to program it yourself.""

That's all taken care of via WIFI, apparently.

I used to trust computers controlled things until the Alton Towers accidents and subsequent ones I've heard of in the US and other countries.

From a job POV, if the Tory Government accept that there will be a level of unemployment and that doesn't mean poverty, then the Public will accept the level of job losses.

Some of the worst accidents have been the Companies overworking their drivers and lack of maintenance on the vehicles, so there needs to be an independent watchdog on how these are operated, with less people around to point out any safety issues.

There will be times over Winter that they aren't feasible. My ex was a Transport Manager for a large retail store. There were times when they could only take out the smaller vans to get the essentials about. There will still be a need for Drivers, just less of them, in the same way that automated tills means less checkout Staff.

Stupid idea for our overcrowded roads. Great idea in america or Australia where they already have road trains.

Hs2 will be excellent for freight to London or Birmingham. Useless elsewhere.

Only plus is indeed that of the three drivers using their phone, only one will be in control most of the time. Minus is that the resulting crash will be three times the size.

I can't see the point in having people in them at all. Either your in control or your not and if your not your brain will switch off and not step in to correct the issue at the right time.

The saving money time and emissions theory is that they can go faster safer and closer safer. So that two second gap on motorways between cars that no one keeps anyway can be filled.

The hacking thing really really worries me

All low skilled workers need to evolve sooner or later

....or we'd all still be in't mill or up chimneys.

Not sure how it will work in the UK due to the large number of exits we have on our motorways, often very close together. Apparently, it's looking more and more likely in the US where there are plenty of vast open highways. In the US there are 3 million truck drivers which means a lot of unemployed people when this comes on stream.

I'm a techie, I wouldn't trust it. I design computer systems for a living. As a driver aid it's a great idea My car has anti collision technology.

Driverless, no way. To many parameters to be dealt with. Oh an accident, ok apply a service pack.

It will happen, and it will become normal but there will be accidents first. It's like a beta version of an operating system on your PC being tested on human life.

40 ton vehicles need someone to manage them. It's not an electric railway with a controller. It's real roads, with real unknown hazards. I don't honestly think we'll have that technology down to an art for at least 10 years.

Ok Firesuit so on a busy motorway a convoy of trucks 50m long will pull over into the middle lane to allow new traffic to join on at a junction. And the middle lane traffic will go where? The fast lane - but often that's full too and its travelling fast. How is that safe?

You say the clever people who develop these things have thought about this (and us mere mortals needn't worry our pretty little heads?) but actually I don't think these systems were developed for our sort of road conditions at all. So I'll remain worried until someone explains.