Info
Info

International research centre to investigate new road safety concerns as driverless cars become popular

News

A new £1.5 million ($1.86 million) research centre will investigate the safety issues faced by pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and children as the growing number of driverless cars bring fresh challenges to the roads.

Info

The international initiative led by Loughborough University, in partnership with Queensland University of Technology, Australia, and Tongji University, in China, has been part-funded by Research England as part of a project to boost international collaborations.

The new centre aims to save lives and prevent injuries to young and elderly pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists and sensory-impaired road users by providing the motor industry with new research about how autonomous vehicles and vulnerable road users interact. Vulnerable road users (VRUs) account for 59% of those either killed or seriously injured in collisions involving cars and other vehicles.

Centre Director Professor Andrew Morris, of the Transport Safety Research Centre, in the School of Design and Creative Arts, said the rapid introduction of driverless cars, also known as connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs), within the transport system raises new technical and ethical challenges for manufacturers and regulators.

Andrew Morris said: “We are delighted and honoured to be working with such prestigious research institutions as CARRS-Q, at the Queensland University of Technology, and the International Research Laboratory of Transportation Safety, at Tongji University. I think this collaboration will make us a very powerful force with respect to ensuring that the introduction of CAVs is not detrimental to safety. To be successful, future CAVs must be fully and safely integrated into the future mobility environment.”

There have been several reports worldwide of injuries to road-users who have come in contact with autonomous vehicles. Last December, an Arizona woman pushing a bicycle across the road was killed when a self-driving test car had trouble classifying her as a pedestrian and failed to stop. According to the local police, the car's test driver was watching TV on her phone at the time of the accident. A report by the National Transport Safety Board said that the test driver did not look up until half a second before the fatal collision and did not press the brakes until less than a second after impact.

Prof Morris said: “There are concerns about how a vehicle with a driver inside, who is only partially engaged with the driving task, will be able to respond to traffic situations where more vulnerable road-users are present. At the moment, in many situations there is an implicit communication code between driver and pedestrian - for example, crossing the road. This will disappear with vehicle autonomy. It's important to ensure that these safety implications do not go unrecognised.”

The centre will gather accident data from around the world and will seek data from experimental trials as well as through questionnaires and focus groups. PhD students - up to a dozen based across the three universities - will also interview road users and publish their findings in recognised journals. All of the data gathered will be made available to the motor industry and will be presented at a series of seminars and an international conference scheduled for 2023.

The project is one of the first investments to be made through Research England's International Investment Initiative (I3). It will receive £436,067 ($540,723) via the scheme. In total, Research England will invest £3.6 million ($4.46) into international collaborations led by UK universities. The partnerships, involving collaborators from Canada, Australia, Singapore and Finland, will address major industrial and societal challenges in healthcare, sustainable technologies and artificial intelligence.


The Latest News, Brought To You By
International research centre to investigate new road safety concerns as driverless cars become popular
Modified on Wednesday 11th September 2019
Find all articles related to:
International research centre to investigate new road safety concerns as driverless cars become popular
TaaS Technology Magazine
Info
Gilbarco Veeder-Root Expands E-mobility Platform With Launch Of EVerse
FEV Successful In Designing Low Emission, Efficient Hydrogen Internal Combustion Engine
Dr. Matthias Jurytko Takes Over The Management Of The Fuel Cell Joint Venture Cellcentric
HELLA Brings Latest Passenger Car 77GHz Radar Technology Into Series Production
Faraday Future Selects Velodyne As Exclusive Lidar Supplier For Flagship FF 91
Nikola And Total Transportation Services Inc. Sign LOI For 100 Nikola Trucks
Iteris Awarded $3.3 Million Contract By City Of Modesto For Smart Mobility Initiative
Uber, Mobilize, RATP And Blablacar Join Forces For Sustainable Mobility By Launching The “Mobilité360” Project
Daimler Truck AG And Volvo Group Fully Committed To Hydrogen-based Fuel-cells – Launch Of New Joint Venture Cellcentric
Fisker Launches Resource For Environmental, Social, And Governance Policy, Practices And Reporting And
PCB Depaneling: Laser Technology Improves Quality And Efficiency For Automotive Applications
AAM And REE Automotive To Jointly Develop New Electric Propulsion System
EasyMile Raises €55 Million In Series B Round
Faction Raises $4.3M To Develop Light EV Driverless Fleets
Nano One And Johnson Matthey Enter Into A Joint Development Agreement For Lithium-ion Battery Materials
SEAT Introduces Autonomous Mobile Robots In Its Barcelona Factory
Construction Begins On First-of-its-kind Electric Vehicle Battery Technology Centre And Pilot Line
Pininfarina And MT Distribution Join Forces To Create A New Range Of Vehicles For Urban Electric Micro-mobility
GHD Survey Reveals Half Of British Consumers Are Considering An Electric Vehicle In Next Five Years
Former Google Head Of Energy Strategy Neha Palmer Joins TeraWatt Infrastructure
Toshiba Expands Scope Of Its Solid-State LiDAR Solution To Address Transportation Infrastructure Monitoring
Ford Boosts Investment In Solid Power
Renault Group And Plug Power Inc. Launch HYVIA
European Launch: NIO To Sell Smart Premium EVs In Norway
Info
Info
×
Search the news archive

To close this popup you can press escape or click the close icon.
Logo
×
Logo
×
Register - Step 1

You may choose to subscribe to the TaaS Magazine, the TaaS Newsletter, or both. You may also request additional information if required, before submitting your application.


Please subscribe me to:

 

You chose the industry type of "Other"

Please enter the industry that you work in:
Please enter the industry that you work in:
 
X
Info
X
Info
{taasPodcastNotification} Array
Live Event