The Roads that Cars can Read: A consultation paper

The Swedish Government, with support from the motor industry, has asked EuroRAP and Euro NCAP to lead an initiative to define what motor manufacturers need, and can reasonably expect to have, so that vehicles of the future can read the road reliably.

‘The Roads that Cars can Read’ initiative is also of importance to Europe’s road
authorities. ‘Action on Safe Vehicles’ and ‘Safe Roads’ are two of the pillars endorsed at global and European level by the international community for the decade to 2020.

Vehicles are developing with new technology at a quickening pace. SatNav is commonplace. Lane departure systems which read lane markings and adjust steering are already on the market. ‘Speed alert’ systems are well developed but, to be valued by drivers, need the legally reliable speed limit information currently displayed on signs. In-car displays offer new opportunities to filter and present relevant information so as to make driving safer and more comfortable.

To make progress in assisting the driver and improving vehicle control, manufacturers now need to know how road information could best be reliably assimilated into the vehicle from a real world environment – and across national and international borders.

This policy paper sets out the issues and suggests practical plans to define the tolerances and logical structure needed to read the road by machine, survey the extent to assess to which existing major road networks fall short and can be put right – and do so in a way which makes it easier and safer for all road users to read the road.

The paper aims to provoke discussion and seeks contributions on whether the problem and the next steps have been adequately defined.