Poor maintenance could undermine safety protocol
Poor maintenance could undermine safety protocol
A leading transport safety body is calling for European-wide adoption of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems such as lane departure warning and intelligent speed assistance on new vehicles – coupled with prioritised maintenance budgets for road markings and road signs on EU-wide motorways to make sure these technologies work effectively.
A report from The European Transport Safety Council (ETSC), report published today, says that while the world is envisaging a future of fully-automated vehicles, an EU-backed push for these intermediate technologies will save lives and boost the European automotive sector.
The UK’s Road Safety Markings Association supports this call: “By 2025, more than half the travel on Europe’s roads will be in vehicles which can read the road ahead including markings and signs, but poor maintenance and inconsistency of white lines undermines the effectiveness of lane departure warning, and may ultimately be the ‘clincher’ for fully-driverless cars to become a reality,” says George Lee, national director of the RSMA. “Our most recent survey of the UK’s motorway network revealed that 52 per cent of markings needed immediate replacement or to be scheduled for replacement.”
The ETSC report also highlights the need to address deaths on urban and rural roads, and recommends extending EU infrastructure safety rules – currently mainly applied to major motorways – to the rest of the road network.
“This is particularly welcome as rural A-roads still represent the UK’s highest risk, and road markings are significantly poorer, with just 12 per cent deemed excellent,” he adds.
“The future of driverless cars is exciting, but getting the basic network in shape first – no matter how dull it may sound – is fundamental to success.”
