BUKIT LANJAN: Will autonomous trucks, trains and buses reduce accidents on highways?

Home News 2017
Number of fatal road accidents up in 2016, more than 7,000 lives lost
By Veena Babulal - January 18, 2017 @ 1:16am
KUALA LUMPUR: In 2016, total of 7,152 people died in road accidents in Malaysia, an alarming jump from 6,706 deaths in the year before, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai announced today. “Despite the number of campaigns and initiatives conducted by the government, the painful reality is that the accident rate keeps increasing every year. “It’s too late when tragic accidents like the bus crash in Pagoh, which claimed 14 lives, occur. There is no use accusing anyone and finger pointing then,” he said at the launch of the Chinese New Year Road Safety campaign in Sunway Pyramid here … for more, go to https://www.nst.com.my/news/2017/01/205090/number-fatal-road-accidents-2016-more-7000-lives-lost

BUKIT LANJAN: Will autonomous trucks, trains and buses reduce accidents on highways?

Every year, more than 5,000 people are killed in vehicle crashes on Malaysian roads and highways.

And the bulk of the fatal accidents involved public transport and heavy vehicles with drivers falling asleep in long journeys along expressways at night, carelessness and recklessness.

“The Star Online news report titled ‘US regulators eye new policy for autonomous trucks, trains’ is therefore interesting and of utmost human interest,” Gerakan Deputy Speaker Syed Abdul Razak Alsagoff said.

He said drivers may lose their jobs due to autonomous vehicles but eliminating “human error and carelessness” would likely help reduce road crashes.

“Whether you like it or not, autonomous transportation is the future technology. The globally evolving technologies cannot be stopped,” he added.

Road accidents involving bus is an alarming matter in Malaysia. National statistics showed that bus accident cases increased significantly with 48% between the year 2006 and the year 2008. Due to this reason, an in-depth study was performed to clearly identify the problems, investigate the characteristics of bus accidents in the country and determine critical issues highlighted from the investigated accidents. The data of bus accidents during the period of 2007-2009 was obtained from the MIROS database of real-world crash investigation and used for the study. A total of 109 cases related to bus accident were analysed and related important issues were discussed in the paper. From the study, several issues that contribute to the high level of fatalities and severe injuries arising from accidents involving bus were identified crucial – failure of bus structure integrity, roadside hazard, lack of Safety and Health Environment Code of Practice (SHE COP) by the operators, and poor vehicle Maintenance … for more, go to https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284173645_IN-DEPTH_CRASH_INVESTIGATION_ON_BUS_ACCIDENTS_IN_MALAYSIA

Syed Razak, who is Gerakan’s nominee to contest N.37 Bukit Lanjan in the coming 14th General Election (GE14), urged the federal government, particularly the Transport Ministry, to seriously come up with policies governing the use of autonomous electric vehicles (EVs).

“The US has started, the EVs are flooding the roads in China … what are we waiting for,” he asked.

Here’s the news report as posted by The Star Online:

"US regulators eye new policy for autonomous trucks, trains

TECH NEWS
Friday, 12 Jan 2018
7:30 AM MYT

Uber's self-driving ride hailing car and self-driving freight truck. The US Transportation Department will soon publish four requests for public comment on how to cast aside roadblocks for transportation advancements in vehicles, trains, buses, commercial trucking and transit systems, Chao said. — Nvidia/Reuters

Federal regulators are taking the first step toward creating a policy guiding the development of autonomous transportation beyond self-driving cars to include trucks, busses and other ground-based modes.

The US Transportation Department will soon publish four requests for public comment on how to cast aside roadblocks for transportation advancements in vehicles, trains, buses, commercial trucking and transit systems, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said Wednesday.

“Right now there are too many outdated transportation rules, terms and concepts that no longer apply to an automated world,” Chao said during a speech at CES, the annual technology show sponsored by the Consumer Technology Association in Las Vegas. “This request for input will help the government identify which regulations, parts of regulations or terminology need to be updated to allow for innovation to move forward.”

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked for comment on “unnecessary regulatory barriers” for self-driving vehicles and how their safety should be tested and certified. The Federal Transit Administration is looking for feedback on two fronts related to automated buses and the Federal Highway Administration will seek public input on how driverless transportation modes should be accommodated on US highways.

Chao discussed the initiatives Wednesday during separate public remarks at CES. Giving the public and industry a chance to make suggestions is part of an effort to prevent government from hampering innovation, she said.

“We want to reduce the hurdles, the barriers,” she said. — Bloomberg"

N.37 LET BUKIT LANJAN SOAR WITH SYED ABDUL RAZAK ALSAGOFF