Driving ahead - some human factors issues related to future connected and autonomous vehicles

Although it is not yet certain when fully Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) will be functional on roads (if ever), there is some speculation that by 2040, most fleets will be at least semi-autonomous (Botello et al., 2019). In general, the actual vision of a fully automated car has naturally excited the public since Google won the US Defense Department’s urban driving contest in 2007. Despite obvious challenges ahead, the pathway to full automation is now widely accepted as completely achievable and has rapidly become one of the most important subjects of automotive research. Automated technologies offer the capability to improve safety and mobility whilst reducing environmental impacts and it has been suggested that risky driving behaviour, errors and ultimately, crashes will be prevented by “taking the driver out of the loop”. Adaptive driving support and information facilities may improve the driving experience enabling drivers to make better use of their time in routine situations whilst automated traffic management offers the opportunity to manage the road infrastructure much more efficiently providing improvements to mobility and the environment.