Richard Yarrow’s opinion for www.startrescue.co.uk, providing low cost Vehicle Recovery.
As a picture to illustrate a point, what’s in the picture is not very exciting. It looks like a car following a lorry and there’s a reason for that. It is. What’s considerably interesting is the fact that the car driver isn’t actually that. He’s a passenger. He might be sat behind the wheel, but he could be reading a newspaper, checking his emails or buying online car breakdown cover. He’s taking part in the first trials of a new system of road usage called ‘platooning’ and the experts predict it could be part of a motorway culture within 10 years.
Platooning is where a lead vehicle – in this case the lorry – plots a course and everything else that’s behind automatically follows. There is no need for the car driver to do anything involving the steering wheel or foot pedals. He could be asleep! It works on technology linked to today’s adaptive cruise control, a system seen on high-end cars which automaticallys keeps you a certain distance from the vehicle in front. The idea is to improve safety, road space utilisation, driver comfort on long journeys and reduced fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.
The first successful demonstration of the technology has been carried out at the Volvo Proving Ground near Gothenburgin Sweden, and that’s what the uninspiring picture is of. The project is called Safe Road Trains for the Environment (SARTRE) and is a joint venture between several technology firms, including UK-based Ricardo. I’m negotiating with Volvo at the moment about getting out there to having a go. If I can get the Times 2 crossword done while I’m testing out the system, I shall be a very happy man.
Got an opinion other www.startrescue.co.uk Breakdown Assistance
Breakdown Cover from 
