Significant investment to improve the quality of line markings will be needed to enable systems such as Ford’s BlueCruise hands-free driving system to be used across the British road network, according to a key player in the industry.
Following government approval, the technology, which controls functions such as steering and speed and has been classed as a level two partial autonomous driving product, will now be available for use on certain parts of the UK motorway network.
However, John Warne, business development and marketing director at line marking firm WJ Group, said that taking the technology nationwide will be difficult because of the condition of many roads and their road markings.
He said: ‘In any system from level two and above, where the car takes control of tasks such as adjusting its position within the lane, the car’s onboard computer needs to be able to recognise road markings and changes in the road layout.
‘Ford has said it has carried out testing showing it can handle worn-out markings and roadworks, but motorways still tend to have better maintained and more clearly delineated markings and roadworks [than] many local urban and rural areas, which is why Ford’s BlueCruise is only an option for users on the motorway network.
‘Despite claims, the computer may struggle to differentiate between faded lines, and whereas on motorways the system will always be able to see a marking on either side of the vehicle, not all roads in urban and rural areas will have both a centre and an edge line.
‘If the onboard system cannot use the markings on the road as a guide, then it will force the driver to retake control, making it almost obsolete.’
Mr Warne warned that with more countries approving autonomous systems every year, ‘we run the risk of falling behind simply because highways authorities don’t have the correct funds available to deliver what the technology needs across their entire network’.
He said: ‘If the public wants to use products like BlueCruise to travel and more advanced forms of autonomous vehicles going forward across the road network, the Government needs to give highways authorities added funds to ensure their white lines are readable.
‘This isn’t a singular issue for Ford’s latest technology but something that all systems need if they are to be used on British roads.’
