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

There was an interesting program about the air France plane crash in the Atlantic. They think a large part was caused by the fact that planes are now mostly controlled by technology which is sager but when something goes wrong with he tech the pilots now don't have the experience to deal with the problem. One of the comentators said that people should be doing the day to day routine with the technology to step in not the other way around as our minds don't work that way so I agree with Imnotreallyreal that there will be deaths before this works and even then when it is all automated there will be more big accidents because when it goes wrong it will go really wrong. Maybe people will decide that is a price worth paying.

Firesuit You are correct about the driverless lorries anticipating the need for drivers to move inbetween parts of the convoy and the technology allows for that.

Radio 4 had an American expert on this week who was speaking about these trucks on the long highways in America but obviously our much smaller, congested traffic systems don't lend themselves to big, long lorries, as anyone who regularly travels between Manchester-Leeds will know!

Driverless cars (and lorries) will be much much safer than human drivers. I can't wait.

My dh is also a techie, designs systems and writes code. He can't wait for it and thinks it will bring huge benefits.

Any issues will get ironed out and tested ad nauseum. The fact insurance companies are concerned speaks volumes.

I don't understand the less congestion and less emissions arguement that I heard on the news - there are still three vehicles on the road and they all need fuel. The only thing it really saves is paying a wage - so more money to the big bosses and less to the general workforce. Hopefully it won't happen. I can't see it working on our roads. Perhaps on American interstates or something, but not in this over crowded country.

How will it work at roundabouts? Again, lorries collect cargo from X town and drive it to Y place, they don't just drive up and down motorways.

If lorry one pulls out safely, will the next two follow automatically, potentially causing a problem as they won't be giving way to the left? Or will they potentially become stuck if the gap between lorry one and lorry two (or three) becomes too great?

What happens to all those people then? Down the dole queue?

Many jobs have falllen by the wayside as technology has changed.
Phone operators, canal cutters, coal men, lamp lighters, knocker uppers, rag and bone men, the list is endless.

To the people saying that it should be on trains. I do agree but how do you get the freight from the train depot to the stores?

Sorry - giving way to the right!!

In 50 years time people will look back and think it was mad that we allowed virtually anybody to drive cars and lorries that killed and maimed thousands of people a year in the UK alone and belched out poisonous gases.

This ⬆️

I think car ownership will go way down
far fewer cars on the road, you don't need to own a car you just summon one up using your phone
Most cars spend most of the time just sitting parked cluttering up the place
Vehicles will also soon be covered with super efficient photovoltaic cells reducing the need for non renewable fuels to power them
Yes I know battery technology isn't there yet ...but it will be

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.

I have no idea whether or not the clever people will solve particular potential problems associated with potential future innovations. What I find bizarre is the idea that we need to worry about it, because they will introduce the innovation without anticipating the problem or designing a solution.

It's perfectly valid to imagine a problem and ask how it will be dealt with, but the question should be asked in a spirit of "I am ignorant about this, please enlighten me" and not "I can't imagine the solution to this problem, mostly because I haven't spent even one second trying to, therefore there is no solution, and this innovation can't happen." (Not saying that is you, but it's what the vast majority of people are like.)

This makes me uneasy & while I would like to think it's about improving safety the cynic in me thinks it's more to do with cost. Companies won't have to pay wages or ensure drivers have breaks etc.

Also doesn't human experience sometimes lead to better outcomes, e.g landing the plane in the Hudson rather than turning back.

I don't think driving 40 tonnes of lorry classes as low skilled

No, but it is expensive.

When I worked in logistics software, delivering schedules that reduced a fleet of 40-tonners by one, could save close to £1,000,000 a year.

Driverless lorries will be able to run 24/7 if needed. Unlike drivern lorries where the driver has to have a break every so often.

In fact I'm guessing that the knock-on effect of driverless lorries will be to require stores to take deliveries at all hours - so much more shift work.

That said, I've also seen unmanned warehouse that load lorries without human intervention ...

m.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/30/tesla_autopilot_crash_leaves_motorist_dead/

As stated before I'm a techie.

I have a Tesla X. It needs constant upgrading, and I'd not go driverless using it. I'm at the wheel. I don't trust it. Maybe for a few minutes on open motorway.

It's a great drive, 0 to 60 in 4 seconds. But the leather is falling apart after 4 months, the doors have bopped my five year old on the head despite me not actively closing them. It's been back to the garage four times for repair in 3 months.

The audio system jams constantly (an annoyance only), and auto park doesn't work in a tight space (that's ok I park myself), it doesn't see car park columns. I'm sending mine back within the 6 month warranty and buying a boring Volvo.

I'll get a Tesla again, when they've ironed out the problems. It's a great car, don't get me wrong, but I feel like I am driving a beta version.

These lorries will be the same, just with 40 tons of momentum behind them.

In America on open highways maybe it will work. Here in London doesn't work. Unless you actually drive it manually, and so you may as well buy a normal car for less.

I'm well into driverless electric cars, but we aren't there yet. I'd not be happy with a 40 ton lorry using the same software.

Just my own take on it, there are three new Tesla cars on my road now. I'm betting two will be returned plus mine. It's a toy and nothing more.

I think that's the key thing, I would rather they get the technology perfected in cars - which can still be more than dangerous when things go wrong - before trying to extend it to lorries.

I can fully see the benefits for the transport industry but it's a long way off being large scale viable IMO

Have you ever driven a car equipped with driverless technology (newer audis have them for example). They are amazing, much safer than a normal car. I am sure that the sane would apply todriverless lorries although the lane systems may need updating (better markings, maybe a left lane only rule at peak hour).

Yes, I've driven cars with that technology. I have a Volvo XC60 (my Mum car run around, lucky me!) and a Tesla X for fun. I prefer driving the Volvo.

My Tesla X is going back to be replaced with an XC90 or Q7. There is a huge difference between collision awareness and an actual driverless car. Huge!

I've driven and owned both. I don't see the Tesla as a driverless car. No flipping way, it bombs out like an old NT sever on blue screen. Lorries are just a big no from me.

Give it 10 years. Tech will catch up.

Today in the news 8 people killed in a minibus on the M1, hit by a truck. The driver has been arrested for drink driving. Roll on self driving vehicles I say.

user977 Yep People will just have to "upskill" eh??!!

uk.businessinsider.com/stephen-hawking-ai-automation-middle-class-jobs-most-dangerous-moment-humanity-2016-12

Happypoobum
At a guess the driverless lorries would drive between depots - just like trains move cargo the lorries would and humans finish the job

But that's a guess

so are the drivers just while they're being tested