What happens when the truck driver guns it on a yellow and has 6 cars behind it? I'm guessing 2 or 3 T-bones and about 4 hours clearing up an intersection.
For this system to work, all traffic lights will need to be reliably broadcasting their status and how long they're going to be remaining in it so that either the fleet can stop, or so that some of the cars can drop out to avoid running a red.
It would also need to communicate with other vehicles. I can turn right (or left in some occasions here in Canada) on a red if I've got the room, but how do I tell if my fleet has the room? If the truck driver becomes liable for risking my vehicle then he's only ever going to move on his light and when he knows he has the time, which will only cripple intersections with congestion.
It's a great idea and I can't wait for the day, but our road system is overly complex as it is and these systems will need to be equally as complex to guarantee safety.
Edit: Also the driver of the fleet vehicles would need to know the destination and what exit the lead is taking. If I'm going to Montreal, I don't want to end up in downtown Toronto and spend forever trying to get back on the highway. Similarly, it will be especially dangerous if I'm just 'dropped' from the fleet due to a communication problem or if my vehicle doesn't follow because the lead is exiting before my destination is set to.
IMO this system would do best as an advancement of an auto-driver system that can read lights and signals, etc. itself without endangering the driver.
This system is for highway traffic, there's no traffic lights. The maximum number of vehicles in a road train is 5. Obviously it has all kinds of failure recovery systems and in fact some top-end BMWs can already safely pull over to the side of the road if the driver suddenly has a heart attack or is otherwise incapacitated.
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What happens when the truck driver guns it on a yellow and has 6 cars behind it? I'm guessing 2 or 3 T-bones and about 4 hours clearing up an intersection.
For this system to work, all traffic lights will need to be reliably broadcasting their status and how long they're going to be remaining in it so that either the fleet can stop, or so that some of the cars can drop out to avoid running a red.
It would also need to communicate with other vehicles. I can turn right (or left in some occasions here in Canada) on a red if I've got the room, but how do I tell if my fleet has the room? If the truck driver becomes liable for risking my vehicle then he's only ever going to move on his light and when he knows he has the time, which will only cripple intersections with congestion.
It's a great idea and I can't wait for the day, but our road system is overly complex as it is and these systems will need to be equally as complex to guarantee safety.
Edit: Also the driver of the fleet vehicles would need to know the destination and what exit the lead is taking. If I'm going to Montreal, I don't want to end up in downtown Toronto and spend forever trying to get back on the highway. Similarly, it will be especially dangerous if I'm just 'dropped' from the fleet due to a communication problem or if my vehicle doesn't follow because the lead is exiting before my destination is set to.
IMO this system would do best as an advancement of an auto-driver system that can read lights and signals, etc. itself without endangering the driver.
This system is for highway traffic, there's no traffic lights. The maximum number of vehicles in a road train is 5. Obviously it has all kinds of failure recovery systems and in fact some top-end BMWs can already safely pull over to the side of the road if the driver suddenly has a heart attack or is otherwise incapacitated.
Er... why wouldn't it?
Because it was only tested on highways/roads in flat areas, and not in the mountains/hills?
And you think all of the engineers at BMW would never consider that particular possibility?
What the fuck.