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No truck can think for me!
Page 24
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I READ yet again that manufacturers are devising automated braking systems for the HGV sector (CM 20 May). As a professional driver trying to build up a business I have to ask if the people at the top of the industry think that we are no longer capable of making decisions for ourselves these days.
After all it's not as though we've been through months of training or anything. Yes, there are a few accidents involving high-speed rear-end shunts but this is usually down to brake failure or, more conunonly, to driver tiredness.
Personally I'd like to see Volvo take its new braking system out on the British motorways to see how it fares. How many times do cars cut in front of you to be suddenly faced with standing traffic— will its vehicle be able to deal with this situation?
Personally I'd like to see Volvo take its new braking system out on the British motorways to see how it fares. How many times do cars cut in front of you to be suddenly faced with standing traffic— will its vehicle be able to deal with this situation?
There are also too many occasions where traffic (for which read car drivers) attempts to overtake in incredibly stupid places leaving you faced with a car approaching you at great speed. We all know the outcome of that scenario, safety device or not, and we may stand a better chance of survival if we retain full control of the vehicle. As for reversing in confined spaces, well, for your information Volvo, I have seen the recent problems that some drivers face with the type of sensors on trailers which apply the brakes when something
obstructs the rear of the trailer. I've witnessed one driver who could not get onto the loading bay because the sensors kept on detecting the wall behind and another who every time he reversed could not back into a gateway as the system refused to tell the difference between a gatepost and a person.
I for one will not be taking up any automated system like this; I feel that any device which takes control away from the driver is a recipe for disaster, especially on jam-packed UK roads.
Manufacturers should concentrate on building trucks that are better for us to drive, not vehicles that are meant to do the thinking for us. M Roberts Fosseway Transport Paulton, Somerset