Opinion piece from Brook Hall, Executive Director of CCAT - The Centre for Connected and Automated Transport

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At the top of the morning radio news bulletin, I hear of another horrific crash; later, the front page of the newspaper shows the smiling face of a teacher tragically killed by another vehicle ploughing into a place it shouldn’t be. The reports cite that the driver of the vehicle had a ‘medical incident.’  

In Victoria, recent media reports have been filled with stories of drivers losing consciousness and control of their vehicles through medical incidents. Innocent lives unexpectedly lost in normally safe places of learning, domesticity, and socialisation: a kindergarten, a primary school, a country home and a beer garden. 

The impacts of any fatal or serious injury crashes are indescribable. The lives of families, communities, and emergency workers are changed forever. The drivers, whose body or mind failed them in their routine daily task, are also left traumatized and guilt-ridden. 

As a community, we feel deeply for the pain and suffering the loss of life brings. We are also connected by the realisation and fear that the victims of the crashes were just doing their everyday task in places where they would never expect to be in the line of danger. Nobody expects to be killed as they go about their day, and these types of crashes are incredibly shocking.  

When a medical incident such as a ‘blackout’ occurs, the driver’s vehicle continues its course following the confused or flawed instruction that its driver gave in the moments before or during the medical incident. Without back-up advanced vehicle safety functions and last-resort protective safety infrastructure, the road safety system breaks down with potentially devastating consequences.  

Unlike other areas of road safety, medical incidents are not a behavioural issue that can be controlled through road rules, enforcement, or even education campaigns.  

Medical incidents behind the wheel are unplanned and unexpected, so their occurrences are random. Because of this, we can’t feasibly protect everyone with infrastructure solutions as we have for other safety issues. Undoubtedly, there will be calls for bollards and crash barriers to be installed at kindergartens and primary schools around the state, but they can’t be everywhere. Yet medical incidents can, and will, continue to occur anywhere in our communities and road networks. 

With an ageing population, increasing rates of diabetes and ever-present risks of heart  failure and stroke - coupled with longer commuter times and stresses in our daily lives - occurrences of medical incidents while driving can only be expected to rise. 

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It's extremely sobering to reflect on this intractable problem. Yet there is hope. Solutions are in fact available. Connected and automated vehicle (CAV) technologies use advanced communications and vision-based systems to warn or assist drivers, or take control of the driving task where human drivers fail to respond to hazards accordingly. 

Connected and automated technologies offer the greatest leap in road safety since compulsory seatbelts laws were introduced in the 1970s or random breath testing in the 1980s.  

Studies from around the world are increasingly demonstrating the safety benefits of removing human error from the driving task, whether that be through distraction, judgement, impairment, fatigue, or even medical emergencies. Human error and dangerous human choices contribute to between 70 and 94 per cent of serious crashes¹. CAV technologies may be the shiniest silver bullet we’ve ever seen. No body wants to see further lives lost, so governments, vehicle suppliers, the transport industry and the community must work together to get these life saving technologies on our roads without further delay. 

Connected and automated technologies are already making an impact on safety in sectors like ports and mining. Agricultural and warehousing sectors are increasingly automating product movements to improve operation efficiencies and reduce safety risks.  Meanwhile, rail and aviation have been using driverless and autopilot technology for years. Our roads are next in line for transformation. 

On our roads, connected and automated vehicles will ‘see’ around corners, always follow the road rules, react quicker than a human, and never lose concentration or consciousness. If Australia is to achieve its Vision Zero, then it is vital that the deployment of these technologies is prioritised to slash road trauma. 

While the journey towards full vehicle autonomy is progressing, challenges remain to develop and refine the technology, safely and sustainably deploy it, and build community acceptance to delegate the driving task to these ‘seeing machines’.  

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If thinking about self-driving cars and robotaxis – which are already a reality in cities in the US and China – makes you uneasy, you’re not alone. A survey of Victorian motorists shows enthusiasm for self-driving technology is waning, reflecting growing scepticism and disillusionment². Building community acceptance is one of the biggest challenges with the technology. How can we learn to trust? Trust is built through experience, familiarisation and seeing the benefits.  

Across the world, countries are investing in large-scale test bed facilities to learn how vehicle technologies interact with roads and local conditions. Whilst Australia evaluates its options, we fall further behind the world in understanding how advanced connected and autonomous vehicles will operate here. Meanwhile, further lives are lost. 

An interim pathway to build trust is through incremental changes. Changes that drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and other road users would barely notice if they were not made aware of it.  

You may not even be aware that this transition has already begun. New technologies are constantly being added to vehicle safety sheets and glossy advertising brochures.  

Source: austroads.com.au

Over the past decade, vehicle safety technologies, driven by advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), have progressively increased their sophistication and roll out in new light and heavy vehicles. Commonly available ADAS features include advanced warning systems such as forward collision warning, lane departure warning, and control and assisting systems, such as adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and autonomous emergency braking.  

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) combined with forward collision warnings (FCW) are extremely effective vehicle safety technologies. Studies estimate that front-to-rear crashes are reduced by about half when the vehicle was equipped with FCW and AEB.  

AEB works to prevent or minimise potential nose-to-tail crashes by stepping in and braking the vehicle if the system senses that a collision is imminent, and the driver fails to take appropriate action. AEB and FCW steps in when drivers are distracted or temporarily lose concentration, and AEB systems critically apply emergency braking when drivers experience a medical incident causing loss of consciousness and control.  

In March 2023, the Australian Design Rule was updated to mandate basic autonomous emergency braking (AEB) systems that can detect other vehicles on newly introduced vehicle models.  In August 2024, the mandate was extended to AEB systems that detect pedestrians and other vulnerable users as well.  

Prior to the rule change, an ANCAP study showed 89.5 per cent of all new vehicles sold already provided AEB demonstrating that this technology is already widespread. This statistic also demonstrates that mandates of safety features are only picking up the last 10 per cent of vehicles for a mature technology. This gradual catch-up of our vehicle standards shows our leaders are listening more to multinational vehicle suppliers than addressing road deaths and injuries.  Our communities should demand leadership not just providing an easy transition for multinational vehicle suppliers.  

The National Road Safety Strategy identified further priority areas for ADRs in: lane keep assist for light vehicles, lane departure warning for heavy vehicles, fatigue and distraction monitoring, reversing detection systems, blind spot information systems for heavy vehicles and the safe deployment of automated vehicles. Nearly half-way into the 10- year strategy and seeing little progress on safety outcomes, it begs the question, are our leaders doing enough?  

Advanced vehicle technologies are the most effective way to address drivers temporarily losing consciousness and failing to control their cars or trucks while in motion. Advanced technologies also assist and protect drivers with common diagnosed conditions, such as diabetes, and heart disease, to maintain access to their freedom of movement in their cars. 

As a matter of priority, government should bring forward mandated rules for fatigue monitoring, especially in trucks. 

Current technologies are improving and providing a pathway to highly connected and automated transport which can remove human error and misadventure.  Are governments prepared to lead the way in saving lives? Will businesses cooperate for the greater good? Are communities ready to trust technology to prevent future tragedies on our roads? I think it’s becoming more and more imperative that we collaborate to maximise the potential that advanced technologies can deliver.  

Brook Hall is the Executive Director of the Centre for Connected and Automated Vehicles 

[1] https://www.tac.vic.gov.au/about-the-tac/media-room/news-and-events/2021/new-research-reveals-road-trauma-doesnt-discriminate https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812115

[2] https://www.eastlink.com.au/assets/documents/230620-eastlink-self-driving-and-electric-car-survey-2023.pdf