AUTONOMOUS CARS - THE CASE FOR RESTRICTIONS FOR PEDESTRIANS, CYCLISTS & MOTORCYCLISTS
IAMRoadsmart has been asked to comment on a Government Green Paper on Autonomous vehicles that aims at restricting the use of cycles and motorbikes on some public highways and seeks to make jaywalk- ing a criminal offence with draconian fines.
Many will have read that autonomous vehicles are programmed to stop when encountering hazards such as pedestrians or other road users. The manufacturers of autonomous cars admit they haven’t been able to reliably programme for the “random movement of cyclists and motorcyclistsâ€. They say that even 5G might not offer enough bandwidth to cope with cycles and filtering motorbikes.
Traffic experts predict the flow of urban traffic will be severely hampered by people stepping out to cross the road in the knowledge that autonomous car will automatically stop and not run them over. The Gov- ernment has recently published research on two options; the first is for extensive use of 1200mm high anti pedestrian barriers and the other is to force pedestrians to cross the road at designated points eg pelican crossings. Planners and urban designers have argued against barriers as that will have a detri- mental effect on the urban landscape particularly in historic city centres. A Government spokesman said “we need a strong stick to prevent unauthorized road crossing by pedestriansâ€. The Green Paper outlines a new criminal offence for jaywalking with fines of £500 if these proposals are adopted.
Furthermore, the Government intends to launch three pilot studies in August 2020.
The first will be to ban motorbikes from motorways. The motorway network will be the first road system that will be able to manage autonomous vehicles on a significant scale. This idea has already gained sup- port from both RoSPA and the IAMRoadsmart.
The second area is covered by London’s congestion charge zone. Cyclists will have to restrict their pedal- ling to designated cycle routes whilst motorbikes will see a complete ban. The London Mayor has instigat- ed feasibility studies for the creation of motorbike parking around the perimeter of the congestion zone in the following locations: Regent’s Park, Paddington, Pimlico, Kennington, Elephant and Castle, Bermond- sey, Whitechapel, Old Street, The Angel, and St Pancras.
The third and most controversial pilot will be in Milton Keynes. Designed in the 1970’s with a non- hierarchical road grid with segregation of cars and push bikes, the city is an ideal test bed for the intro- duction of autonomous vehicles. As a concession motorbikes will be allowed to use the cycle routes. This follows a precedent from the Netherlands where low powered motorbikes called ‘bromfietsenas’ can use cycle lanes. A 20mph speed limit will be enforced.
IAMRoadsmart applauds this initiative; a spokesman said “It will definitely save lives.â€
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