Triquet wrote:This is well and good when all vehicles are "connected", but consider the situation now where school buses are quite often the oldest vehicles in the fleet (due to general neglect and kiddy vandalism). They won't be "connected" for years.
Since many current drivers won't expect* to see pedestrians in the vicinity of buses, having an autonomous vehicles 'trained' to approach carefully could be an advantage.
* Similar theme: research on roadworker safety, over half the people interviewed wouldn't expect to see 'people' near to vehicles displaying amber beacons.
http://www.highways.gov.uk/knowledge/pu ... nspicuity/
http://assets.highways.gov.uk/specialis ... mplete.pdf
Drivers do not necessarily expect to see road workers
The participants in this study who were interviewed about this issue showed a varied set of expectancies regarding encountering road workers in everyday driving. More than half the participants reported that they would not expect to see people where a vehicle with flashing lights is stopped at the roadside.