See https://ecf.com/what-we-do/road-safety/motor-vehicle-regulation-safer-cycling
Generally good stuff.
I like the call for automatic emergency braking. This will prevent rear-end collisions, and can potentially eliminate the right hook — though not the screened left cross. Automated speed control with an override for emergencies is also practical. The skeptcism about C-ITS (connected vehicles) is in my opinion warranted. It is too complicated to be reliable and there are also the issues of expense, need of bicyclists and pedestrians to carry equipment, and civil liberties.
I also like their specification that side underrun protection should stop pedestrians or cyclists from being caught in or because if the guard. Most side guards I’ve seen of this in the USA are window dressing — see https://john-s-allen.com/blog/?p=5448
But their statement that cycling fatalities and serious injuries have decreased is at odd with the graphs. What is correct? What are the causative factors? What kinds of crashes?
They don’t say anything about the trend toward e-bikes.
The following is good, in the report:
In the EU the developmental pattern seems to be that vehicles will become more and more automated bringing the technologies step by step into new high end vehicles (AEB, parking assist etc.) with, over time, driving tasks being further and further eliminated from the driving task until eventually full automation is achieved. The US seems to be moving in a different way with companies not traditionally involved in vehicles looking at current testing of fully autonomous vehicles (Google car etc.) using sensing camera/lidar/radar systems and almost willing the driverless car into life through repeated use on the road.
The report protests against bicyclist’s being pushed out of the way to make room for motor vehicles and mentions “good cycling Infrastructure” repeatedly but doesn’t say what that is, or how the advent of e-bikes, automated crash prevention and autonomous vehicles will change that. Clearly, it will, but how?
