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Drivers are failing to have regular eye tests to ensure they are not a risk on the road, a survey by Venson Automotive Solutions suggests.

It found that 40% of respondents have not had an eye test within the past two years – the maximum recommended period between tests.

If a driver is stopped by police and found to be unable to meet the ‘standards of vision for driving’, they could receive a £1,000 fine or points on their licence, but most are likely to have their licence removed.

While it is not a legal requirement for drivers to update the DVLA if they have been prescribed corrective glasses or contact lenses since they passed their driving test, the Venson survey showed that one in three responsible drivers had taken it upon themselves to do so.

Other conditions affecting vision may need to be reported including anxiety, high blood pressure, depression and diabetes* and could mean they cannot legally drive certain types of vehicles, particularly lorries and buses.

“Leaving more than two years between eye tests puts drivers at risk of being unsafe on the road because eyesight can deteriorate rapidly within that time,” said Alison Bell, marketing director for Venson Automotive Solutions.

“Anyone can be stopped by the police and be asked to take a roadside sight test, regardless of whether the DVLA is aware of a health condition that affects your eyesight.

“Failing that test can have serious consequences and may leave someone without a licence and unable to drive. For someone who needs to drive for work, the consequences are extensive.”

Bell says that fleet operators have a duty of care to ensure their drivers are safe on the road, and that includes meeting the required standards of vision for driving.

“If a fleet driver is found to be unable to meet the required standards of vision the company could be liable as well as the driver, and the driver may not be able to continue driving,” she added

“Therefore, it is in the best interests of the fleet operator as well as the driver to ensure eye tests are carried out at least every two years and that drivers always wear any corrective glasses or contact lenses they require.” By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

June to September 2021 saw the RAC deal with the largest proportion of pothole-related callouts in any third quarter since 2006.

RAC patrols attended 1,810 breakdowns for broken suspension springs, distorted wheels and damaged shock absorbers which represented 1.2% of all its callouts over the three-month period.

The RAC said June to September, along with October to December, are normally the quietest quarters for pothole-related breakdowns, both in terms of pure numbers and the proportion they represent of all RAC breakdowns.

Nicholas Lyes, head of roads policy at the RAC, said: “With Government data showing weekday car traffic is still not quite back to pre-pandemic levels, it’s very worrying that our patrols are still attending a higher proportion of pothole-related call-outs in relation to all the breakdowns they go out to.

“While it’s welcome that the sheer number of pothole breakdowns is not as high as we’ve seen in previous years, we see worrying signs in our data that implies little progress has been made in the last 12 months in improving road surfaces for drivers.

“Traditionally, the spring and summer months give authorities a chance to repair and improve roads, but unfortunately it seems many roads remain in a perilous state. We fear we’re only a bad winter away from seeing a plague of potholes which authorities will struggle to repair.

“When it comes to potholes, prevention is always better than cure. Relying on just patching potholes is a fruitless task which simply pours good money after bad as it only acts as a sticking plaster. This will anger drivers incredibly as they already feel not enough of their motoring taxes are invested in keeping roads up to a respectable standard.”

When looking at the proportion of pothole callouts as a rolling average of the last four quarters, there is a ‘worrying increase’ in the share of these breakdowns, the RAC said, as they represent 1.5% of all RAC call-outs – the highest such figure seen in the RAC’s Pothole Index data since the four quarters to the end of September 2018 (1.5%).

The RAC Pothole Index is a long-term measure of the condition of roads which is adjusted for weather and seasonal effects. As of Q3 2021 it stands at 1.48, down from 1.51 in Q2.

The RAC said that drivers are nearly one-and-a-half times more likely to breakdown after hitting a pothole than they were when the RAC first started collecting the data back in 2006.

RAC Report on Motoring 2021

Drivers surveyed for the RAC Report on Motoring 2021 named the poor condition and lack of maintenance of local roads their top concern.

This year, 46% of drivers say that the state of local roads is one of their four biggest motoring-related concerns, up from 38% 12 months ago.

More than half (58%) of drivers believe local road conditions where they live have deteriorated over the past year, a rise on the 52% recorded in 2020 and 49% in 2019.

Drivers would like to see at least some of the revenues raised from the likes of vehicle excise duty (VED) and fuel duty ring-fenced for spending on local road maintenance. This year, 81% of drivers support this idea, an almost identical proportion to 2020 (82%).

At present, revenues from VED in England are used to fund maintenance spending but only on the motorway and high-speed road network.

Three-quarters (74%) take the view that the motoring taxes they already pay are not sufficiently reinvested into local roads.

Drivers are overall are happier with the state of the UK’s motorways and major A-roads – only 11% cite the state of motorways and high-speed roads as a main concern, although 28% still say that the condition of these roads has deteriorated over the past 12 months. 

Lyes said: “We have long campaigned for national government to recognise the significance of local roads and ring-fence funds over a five-year period to enable councils to plan and deliver longer-term road maintenance.

“If the coming winter proves to be colder than normal as some are predicting we could sadly see our roads crumbling yet further, costing drivers hundreds of thousands of pounds in repairs.

“We’re sounding the alarm now so that this doesn’t happen, but we badly need the transport secretary and the treasury to take a fresh look at how local roads are funded.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The leasing industry has grown in the past five years, with private ownership falling in Europe from 53% of total market in 2013, down to 42% in 2021, according to research by Jato Dynamics.

The report, ‘An industry in flux: Leasing in the automated age’, showed that leasing has gained popularity – it is estimated that five million vehicles were leased in the UK, last year – with 1.9 million of those being individual or personal contracts.

Separate research from Fleet News recently showed that, after two consecutive years of decline, the FN50 – the UK’s top 50 leasing companies by risk fleet size – had stabilised over the past 12 months with a slight rise in the number of funded cars and vans to 1,663,421 (up by 1,101 units).

Jato said the rise in demand for leasing can be explained by evolving priorities for consumers – where individuals previously thought it was important to own a car, perceptions have shifted where the focus is now on the usage of a vehicle.

David Krajicek, chief executive officer at Jato Dynamics, said: “The leasing sector has evolved significantly in recent years.

“Impacted by many factors – such as technological advances, digitalisation, and changing consumer priorities – OEMs and leasing companies must now ensure they shift away from manual processes and adapt to changing customers’ wants and expectations.

“Those that fail to respond to this evolution risk damaging business relationships, sales prospects, and their chances to succeed in the increasingly competitive market.”

Leasing rather than ownerships poses benefits including lower maintenance costs, greater flexibility and the ability to upgrade to new models and technology – which is important as consumers now expect to consistently access new products and services, according to Jato.

Research from Salesforce found that three quarters (75%) of consumers’ site search queries are new each month. The growing desire for new products and features can be linked to the rise in popularity for leasing subscriptions, rather than committing to one, single vehicle for several years, said Jato.

In 2020, 72% of customers expected to be able to apply for a leasing contract entirely online, according to reserach by Capgemini. Jato said the research highlights that automation has a role to play in the automotive sales processes.

With the leasing marketing growing, creating a seamless customer experience through digitalisation and automation will be the ‘vital’ next step for OEMs and leasing service providers to accelerate their sales and profit margins, Jato said.

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Geotab has formed a partnership with Camera Telematics to help tackle vehicle insurance fraud with the Street Angel Solution on the Geotab Marketplace.

Street Angel offers the tracking functionality with on-board vehicle camera solutions available. It has multiple functions available in one device, including track and trace, 4G data transfer and 1080p high-quality recording.

Geotab said Street Angel provides a scalable link to up to five cameras, and with a monitor, can provide blind-spot and reversing assistance.

It can also provide first notice of loss (FNOL) reports direct to insurance companies and when a roadside incident or accident occurs, Street Angel provides visual evidence to help protect Geotab from insurance fraud and accident management assistance.

David Savage, vice president UK and Ireland at Geotab, said: “As a company dedicated to improving driver safety, Geotab is committed to offering the most advanced solutions on the Geotab Marketplace.

“We are excited to collaborate with Camera Telematics to provide our customers with more customisation options and so that they can benefit from advanced camera technology that can help them better manage roadside incidents and accidents.”

The Geotab Marketplace provides customers with an ecosystem of business-focused applications and add-ons.

Mark Stamper, managing director at Camera Telematics, said: “We are delighted to announce this partnership and working with Geotab raises our profile throughout the countries in which they operate, to further expand our customer base whilst delivering enhanced services into the Geotab ecosystem.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

New figures show that there were 28,375 public electric vehicle charging devices available in the UK as of January 1.

Of the total devices available, 5,156 were rapid chargers.

Compared to October 1, 2021, it means that available devices increased by 2,448, an increase of 9%, while rapid devices increased by 233, up 5%.

There was an increase in total and rapid devices across all regions of the UK.

In the past year, the number of public devices has increased by 37%, corresponding to 7,600 devices.

The number of rapid devices increased by 33%, with an additional 1,276 public devices.

Regional distribution of charging devices

The data, however, points to an uneven geographical distribution of charging devices within the UK.

Some UK local authorities have bid for UK Government funding for charging devices, and others have not.

Most of the provision of this infrastructure has been market-led, with individual charging networks and other businesses (such as hotels) choosing where to install devices.

London and Scotland had the highest level of charging provision per 100,000 of population, with 102 and 52 devices per 100,000 respectively. In comparison, the average provision in the UK was 42 per 100,000.

Northern Ireland had the lowest level of charging device provision in the UK, with 18 devices per 100,000, followed by the North West and Yorkshire and the Humber with 24 and 26 devices per 100,000 respectively.

Scotland had the highest rate of rapid device provision of 12.9 rapid devices per 100,000, while the average provision in the UK was 7.7 per 100,000.

Rapid device provision was lowest for Northern Ireland and Wales, with 1.2 and 5.3 rapid devices per 100,000 respectively. An interactive map of this data is available.

All regions across the UK saw an increase in total charging devices between October 1, 2021 and January 1.

London had the greatest increase at 16.4%, whilst Northern Ireland and the North West had the smallest increases at 3.9% and 4.6% respectively.

London also had the greatest increase in absolute number of devices at 1,292 devices, contributing to more than half of the increase in devices across the UK.

Meanwhile, rapid charging devices have increased in every region in the UK.

The smallest percentage increase in the number of rapid devices was in the North East at 0.4%.

East Midlands had the largest percentage increase in rapid devices at 7.5%, corresponding to an increase of 26 rapid devices.

Ben Foulser, head of future mobility at KPMG UK, said: “As electric vehicle adoption rises, it’s encouraging to see more public charging points installed. But there’s no doubt that the pace of delivery will have to increase in order to both cope with the demand of the coming years, and to convince others to transition to EVs.

“It’s also vital that any use of public funding to de-risk investment by the private sector is targeted and successful.

“This includes development of commercially attractive portfolios that incorporate rural and smaller sites, enabling a just transition to zero emission mobility across the UK.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The Government will tighten the rules on the use of mobile phones making it illegal to use a hand-held device under virtually any circumstance while driving.

It is already illegal to text or make a phone call (other than in an emergency) using a hand-held device while driving.

Next year, new rules will be introduced to ban drivers from using their phones to take photos or videos, scroll through playlists or play games.

Anyone caught using their hand-held device while driving will face a £200 fixed penalty notice and six points on their licence.

The Government says that drivers will still be able to continue using a device ‘hands-free’ while driving, such as a sat-nav, if it’s secured in a cradle.

However, if police deem that they are not to be in proper control of their vehicle they can be charged with careless driving.

Transport secretary Grant Shapps says that too many deaths and injuries occur while mobile phones are being held.

“By making it easier to prosecute people illegally using their phone at the wheel, we are ensuring the law is brought into the 21st century while further protecting all road users,” he said.

“While our roads remain among the safest in the world, we will continue working tirelessly to make them safer.”

The Government launched a consultation on mobile phone use while driving in October 2020 to close a loophole in the original law.

Existing legislation had made it a criminal offence to use a hand-held mobile phone to call or text while driving, but not for other actions such as taking photos.

The law said that an offence is committed if a driver uses a handheld mobile phone for “interactive telecommunication” while behind the wheel.

The phrase reflected how, when the law was written in 2003, smartphones were not in existence and mobile devices were used for sending texts or making calls.

It has enabled lawyers to successfully argue that using a phone’s camera while driving does not constitute “interactive telecommunication”.

It was brought to a head in 2019, when the Director of Public Prosecutions lodged an appeal with the High Court after Ramsey Barreto had a conviction quashed for filming a crash on his mobile phone.

The 51-year-old was prosecuted and found guilty after police saw him driving past an accident using his phone to make a video. However, he had the conviction overturned at Isleworth Crown Court, after his lawyers successfully argued that the law only banned the use of mobile phones to speak or communicate while behind the wheel.

Publishing its decision in July 2019, the High Court dismissed the appeal, agreeing with Barreto’s lawyers.

Mary Williams, chief executive of Brake, said: “Driver distraction can be deadly and using a hand-held phone at the wheel is never worth the risk. This important road safety decision by Government, coinciding with Road Safety Week, is very welcomed.

“This news is particularly welcomed by families suffering bereavement and catastrophic injury due to drivers being distracted by phones.”

The Government consultation found 81% of respondents supported proposals to strengthen the law and make it easier for culprits to be prosecuted.

Paul Loughlin, a solicitor specialising in motoring law at Stephensons, said: “As phones have become more popular and developed new functions we have seen related offences increase in number as well as seriousness.

This announcement will be welcome news for many and goes some way toward making our roads a safer place for all road users.

“The way people have used phones has changed as phones have become more and more advanced and for the sake of road safety, it is about time the law was modernised to reflect this.

“As ever, the challenge will come back to both education and enforcement. Many drivers have ingrained habits when behind the wheel and unfortunately some don’t hesitate to check their phones, often below the line of sight for any passing police officer to notice.

“While this legislation will certainly act as a greater deterrent, it is important that we now see a sustained effort to educate drivers of this change as well as tough enforcement from the police.”

The Government will now revise The Highway Code to explain the new measures. It will also be more precise about the fact that being stationary in traffic counts as driving, making it clear that hand-held mobile phone use at traffic lights or in motorway jams is illegal except in very limited circumstances.

There will be an exemption to the new law for drivers making a contactless payment using their mobile phone while stationary to ensure the law keeps pace with technology.

This exemption will cover, for example, places like a drive-through restaurant or a road toll and will only apply when payment is being made with a card reader. It will not allow motorists to make general online payments while driving.

Among other findings, the research revealed younger motorists are more likely to have used a hand-held device at the wheel.  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

A lack of clarity around future tax policy and Government support for electric vehicles (EVs) will leave some businesses unable to commit to electrifying their fleets, industry experts say.

The warning comes in the wake of COP26 and a Budget thin on detail for those operating cars and vans.

The Chancellor did not reveal company car tax rates beyond 2025 or explain how £620 million for the plug-in grant and charging infrastructure, announced in the recent Net Zero Strategy, would be spent.

Spencer Halil, chief commercial officer at Alphabet (GB), says the switch to electric cars and vans is crucial to cutting transport emissions and achieving net zero.

However, he told Fleet News: “The Government has not capitalised on recent opportunities to provide the clarity and certainty needed around electrification to enable companies to make this important step.

“With no update on future tax rates for customers, nor a clear path for how long electric vehicle incentives will remain in place, businesses are unable to plan for an electric future with any confidence.”

LONG-TERM VIEW REQUIRED

Low company car tax rates for EVs have helped secure record registrations for plug-in vehicles – more will join Britain’s roads in 2021 than during the whole of the last decade, according to the latest forecast from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

But to maintain that fleet momentum away from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles towards electric cars and vans, requires further detail which has yet to be published.

Zenith CEO Tim Buchan says the industry needs to understand what the Government’s long-term plan is for decarbonising vehicles via taxation, grants and incentivisation.

He explained: “A more comprehensive roadmap is needed so the fleet industry can fully understand the role it plays in supporting the Government to meet its targets and can effectively prepare for a lower-carbon future.”

There was hope that the Government would announce a review of road taxation to investigate the merits of alternatives such as road pricing, but, again, the industry was left disappointed.

“Businesses urgently need better long-term certainty from the Government across all these areas to enable them to commit to sustainability investments for their fleets and support wider UK climate targets,” said Halil.

Budget 2021 did confirm benefit-in-kind (BIK) tax rates for battery electric vehicles (BEVs) would be frozen at 2% after this financial year up to 2024/25.

But, Paul Hollick, chairman of the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), said he was ‘disappointed’ by the absence of company car tax tables beyond that date, for which the AFP, alongside the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) and Fleet News, has been campaigning.

He explained: “For some time, we’ve been calling for the Government to make BIK taxation tables for EVs available through to the end of the decade.

“Currently, information has only been published up until 2024-25, leaving businesses and employees now entering into four-year cycles with no indication of what the benefit-in-kind rate will be for 2025-26.”

Gerry Keaney, chief executive at the BVRLA said the silence around BIK was “deafening”.

“The Chancellor has missed an opportunity to give the industry essential clarity when it is most needed,” he added. “This only grows fears that rates will be drastically increased down the line.”

DWINDLING TAX TAKE

The fleet and leasing industry can be excused for fearing what may happen to BIK beyond 2025. It was only 10 years ago company car drivers were incentivised to drive diesel company cars.

“That seems crazy now,” said Harvey Perkins, co-founder of tax consultancy firm HRUX, “and just goes to show why some can be cynical.”

Considering Treasury has never given company car tax rates more than three to four years in advance, Perkins says it is quite possible that the fleet and leasing industry may have to wait until the year after next to see rates published post-2025. However, he stressed: “Logically, these rates will have to go up.”

The Treasury collected around £2 billion in company car tax in the past financial year. “We know there are getting on for 300,000 EVs on the roads in the UK,” continued Perkins. “I’m guessing a lot of those are company cars so a lot of that £2bn is evaporating quickly.”

REGISTRATION PROJECTIONS

With the sale of new ICE cars and vans ending from 2030 and hybrids from 2035, and new HGVs having to be zero-emission from 2035 or 2040 (dependent on weight), the number of plug-in vehicle registrations is estimated to rise rapidly to around three million by 2025, 10 million by 2030 and 25 million by 2035.

KPMG’s Mobility 2030 team expects the sale of zero-emission cars and vans to reach 98% of sales in 2031 and 27% of the parc by 2030.

As well as putting pressure on company car tax revenues, the shift to electric leaves the Treasury needing a plan to plug a potential £40bn shortfall from road taxes, including fuel duty.

At £28.4bn in 2019-2020 (excluding VAT), tax revenues from fuel duty account for a significant 2% of GDP (gross domestic product), while vehicle excise duty (VED) receipts were estimated to account for £6.5bn.

FUEL DUTY FREEZE

With record prices at the pumps, the Chancellor cancelled a planned 2.8p rise in fuel duty. Petrol exceeded the 142.48p a litre all-time peak set on April 16, 2012, by reaching 142.94p on October 24, and diesel hit a new high of 147.94p surpassing its previous record price of 147.93p on April 12, 2012.

The fuel duty freeze is expected to cost the Chancellor £7.85bn over the next five years, but, despite the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) taking into account an increasing number of EVs, the figures do not suggest a dramatic decline in revenues.

Appearing alongside Perkins at a BVRLA event, HRUX director Chris Sewell explained that Treasury forecasts still suggest annual receipts of £32bn for fuel duty in a few years’ time.

“It’s probably not an unreasonable assumption,” said Sewell. “There’s 30 million cars on the road, plus LCVs, plus HGVs and, until they all go electric, there is still going to be a huge amount of revenue in fuel duty.”

However, despite the Government’s figures not suggesting a dramatic decline in duty, Thomas McLennan, head of policy and public affairs at the BVRLA, says that given the complexity of designing and implementing a new road tax regime, Treasury does not have the “luxury” of time on its side.

He warned: “I don’t think we can realistically say we’re going to completely overhaul our road tax system and not give ourselves almost a decade to do it.

“That’s when we really get into trouble, because I don’t think those fuel duty receipts are going to survive towards the end of this decade.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

The latest assisted driving gradings have been published just as a new set of guiding principles for marketing automated vehicles has been published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

The principles, which have been developed and agreed by the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles’ AV-DRiVE Group, provide an outline for responsible advertising and communication relating to automated vehicles and their capabilities.

The industry-led initiative will ensure consumers receive consistent and clear information regarding automated driving features, ahead of their expected introduction to British roads in 2022, says the SMMT.

2021 Assisted Driving Grading results

By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

Thatcham Research and Euro NCAP have released the results of their latest assisted driving results, with the BMW iX3 rated top out of the cars tested.

The assisted driving grading assessments were introduced in October 2020 and are designed to support the sensible marketing and safe adoption of assisted driving technology.

Seven new cars were assessed during the latest tests, with five of them pure electric vehicles (EVs), reflecting the increasing popularity of this type of vehicle within the new car market.

Each car was evaluated and rated for the level of assistance, level of driver engagement and effectiveness of the safety back-up offered by their assisted driving systems.

The best systems strike a good balance between the amount of assistance provided and how much they do to ensure drivers are engaged and aware of their responsibilities behind the wheel, according to Thatcham Research.

Matthew Avery, Thatcham Research’s chief strategic research officer, said: “Assisted driving technology can be a great comfort feature, especially when supporting drivers on long motorway journeys. But it must strike the right balance between offering a meaningful level of assistance and ensuring that motorists don’t sit back and let the system do the driving.

“We’ve seen the dangerous outcomes on roads around the world when drivers become convinced that their role is secondary.”

Capabilities described ‘correctly’

Last year’s assisted driving grading results prompted Thatcham Research to raise concerns that some carmakers were overselling the supposed self-driving capability of their technology.

The naming, marketing and performance of Tesla’s ‘Autopilot’ system was highlighted as a concern.

However, the capabilities of cars in this year’s assessments have been described correctly and consumers are not being led to believe they are driving a car equipped with automated functionality.

Avery said: “All seven cars we’ve just tested are clearly marketed as having ‘driver assistance’ functions, not ‘automated’.

“These systems are engineered to involve and support the driver in a very cooperative manner.

“They’re certainly not trying to offer automation, where the driving task can be relinquished to the vehicle, and we strongly believe that’s the right thing to do.”

BMW’s iX3 emerged as the top performer, scoring 169 points (out of a possible 200) and earning a ‘very good’ grading, while the Ford Mustang Mach-E (152 points) and Cupra Formentor (144 points) both secured a ‘good’ grading.

The all-electric Polestar 2 (135 points) and Hyundai Ioniq 5 (126 points) earned a ‘moderate’ grading, while the less expensive Toyota Yaris (109 points) and Vauxhall Mokka-e (101 points) were both handed an ‘entry’ grading for the solid core performance of their Assisted Driving technology.

Avery said: “These encouraging results reveal solid system performance across a good spread of new vehicles, and the fact that five of the seven cars are full EVs is also positive.

“It shows the newest cars in this growing sector are being equipped with Assisted Driving technology that delivers comfort and safety benefits to drivers.”

On the BMW iX3, Avery added: “It’s the only vehicle to get our ‘very good’ grading. It responded well in our collision avoidance scenarios and at 85%, it has one of the highest scores for driver engagement, in part because the iX3 features good in-vehicle video to show the driver how to use the system.”

Toyota’s Yaris, meanwhile, gets an ‘entry’ rating, but Avery says it’s impressive to see assisted driving functionality on a low-cost super mini.

However, he said: “It’s let down by its comparatively poor performing vehicle assistance and safety back-up functions.”

Technology still in ‘early’ stages

Today’s assisted driving technologies give support to the driver and, although they are providing the foundations for tomorrow’s automated driving technologies, they cannot be classified as ‘automated’ yet, says Thatcham Research.

At the heart of an effective assisted driving system should always be a good balance between driver engagement, vehicle assistance and safety back-up.

Thatcham Research believes the results of its latest assisted driving grading assessments as a positive step along the road to automation, however, the ‘moderate’ rating achieved by the Polestar 2 shows that this technology is still in its early stages.

The Polestar 2 achieved an impressive 85% for safety back-up and a solid 70% for driver engagement, but it was the lowest scorer – at 50% – of all the cars tested for vehicle assistance.

Its speed assistance function, in particular, was highlighted as an area that needs improvement by test engineers. “The Polestar 2 is really impressive in an emergency, almost equal to the BMW in terms of its safety back-up score. But its assistance score holds it back overall,” said Avery. “Finding that sweet spot in terms of system balance is a challenge that carmakers continue to face.”

Although its current assessments focus on testing today’s assisted driving technology, Thatcham Research and Zenzic are working in partnership on a safety rating scheme for automated driving systems.

The intention is that this will become the benchmark for a global independent rating scheme for automated driving systems, with a view to driving best practice and reassuring consumers that – when the technology is mature enough – it’s safe to hand over control. By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News

New, active luminous road markings are being trialled in Portsmouth by civil engineering and transport infrastructure specialists, Colas.

The Flowell crosswalks and cycle crossings technology has been developed by Colas teams, and trialled at various sites in France, where initial feedback has shown it to be very beneficial.

The new crossing in Portsmouth, which has been fully funded by Colas, lights up when triggered by sensors.

It can also adapt according to traffic levels and needs via an interactive road management system. For example, it can be adapted to give priority to certain vehicles during specific time times of day or allocate space for a dedicated use such as temporary outdoor dining space for restaurants.

Ian Gibson, director of asset contracting  at Colas, said: “Flowell stems from a design process led by Colas teams, and it therefore benefits from our extensive technological expertise in transport infrastructure.

“Following the initial laboratory tests performed jointly at the Colas Campus for Science and Techniques, it is now entering a trial phase in real life conditions.

“We are delighted to have installed the UK’s first Flowell crossing in Portsmouth as part of this phase, and we look forward to sharing the results of this trial with the industry.”

The solution is made up of panels comprising of LEDs encapsulated in a multilayer substrate which are connected to the electrical network.

They can be glued on or embedded into pavement, which preserves the surface’s initial grip and skid resistance.

The site in Portsmouth will be monitored to determine its impact on behaviour and help determine how it could improve road, rail and airport infrastructure in the UK and around the world.

Cllr Lynne Stagg, Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for traffic and transportation, said: “We’re always looking for new ways to improve road safety and I’m delighted we’re the first place in the UK to use this innovative new technology.

“We chose this crossing because it’s very busy particularly at night with all the bars and restaurants, we want to make the crossing more visible and encourage more people to cross there safely.”  By Graham Hill thanks to Fleet News