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On Friday 7th June 2019, our Technical Director Dr Charles Johnson presented at the CICEA Congress, Tbilisi, Georgia.

The International Commission for Driver Testing (CIECA) came together on its 51st Congress to discuss Modern Technology for Safe Driving (for those less familiar with the CIECA, you can take a look here: https://www.cieca.eu/our-organisation/organisational-structure). CIECA’s aim is to improve the quality of driving internationally, primarily through the improvement of driver training, education, testing and licensing. To achieve this, it brings together road safety and driver testing organisations, educational institutions and other organisations and consultants to exchange ideas and develop innovative approaches.

Drawing on his wealth of experience in human factors and competence management in the transport sector, Charles put together a comprehensive presentation on ‘Differing Visions of the Future of Driving Instruction and Testing’. Starting from the fact that fully automated vehicles already exist, Charles went on to discuss three visions of the future of driving and their implications for driver training:

  1. Driver assistance – vehicles are highly automated, but the driver remains the primary controller of the vehicle.
  2. Conditional automation – vehicles are capable of being fully self-driving but retain controls which allow the driver to intervene or take back control when necessary.
  3. Full automation – vehicles retain no controls that allow manual takeover by human drivers.

Charles argued that these visions follow different philosophies, the first being human-centric and the other two being technology-centric, and that the first was the most likely scenario in the foreseeable future. He concluded that although all three visions have implications for driver training, the first vision requires that training and technological innovations need to be focussed on how to enable people to become ‘super-drivers’.

CAS has a strong track record within a number of industries where transport and professional driving are keys to success. There are growing concerns over safety and the road worthiness of increasingly automated vehicles. Our experience of developing and improving driver training and assessment programmes means that we are well placed to deal with the future challenges which the continuous advance of vehicle technology poses.

Get in touch for an informal discussion about how we can meet your needs.