Fleets should “look beyond” full autonomy at other possible uses of new assisted driver technology, says the Association of Fleet Professionals.
Paul Hollick, chair at the industry body, said that it was becoming clear that the promise of entirely self-driving cars was unlikely to materialise in the near future but that other potentially useful – and even transformational – ideas were coming to fruition.
“General agreement seems to be emerging across the autonomous tech field that the target of full ‘level five’ autonomous driving is still some years away, if indeed its inherent problems can ever be solved. This is perhaps disappointing given the hype but fleets potentially have a lot to gain by looking beyond that setback. There is much that can be done with the related technology that is available and fleets should be both looking at its possibilities and also thinking about infrastructure to ensure its safe use.
“Especially, the UK appears to be more liberal than some other countries in terms of allowing this technology to be used on public roads, so there is a chance that we may effectively be asked to become early adopters – with both the risks and rewards that brings.”
