[SystemSafety] underground trains without drivers

[Dewi Daniels]

> So, the big question. If moving-block systems work so well automated with
> trains, why wouldn't they be adaptable to organising vehicles in road
traffic?

I think the main obstacle to the deployment of such systems is not
technological, but societal.

On 4 November 2011, 34 vehicles were involved in a collision on the M5
motorway, resulting in 7 fatalities and 51 injuries.  This incident received
a lot of press coverage at the time.  A total of 1,901 people died in road
accidents in Great Britain in 2011 [2].

Can you imagine if the 34 vehicles involved in the collision had been
automated?  There would have been a public outcry and demands for the system
to be withdrawn from service.

The aviation authorities require that UAVs be as safe as a manned aircraft,
which is a creditable aim.  It seems to me that unmanned automobiles that
were "only" as safe as an equivalent manned automobile (i.e. that caused
1,901 fatalities each year) would not be acceptable to the public (who would
refuse to ride in such "unsafe" vehicles) or to engineers (who know that we
can do so much better).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_M5_motorway_crash
[2]
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/92
73/rrcgb2011-00.pdf
Yours,

Dewi Daniels | Managing Director | Verocel Limited
Direct Dial +44 1225 718912 | Mobile +44 7968 837742 | Email
ddaniels at verocel.com

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