Readers Response Draft 3

An online article “Driverless Vehicles: A Vision for Singapore’s Transport” retrieved from the Ministry of Transport (MOT) website (2018) stated that implementation of Autonomous Vehicle (AV) will further improve the efficiency of transport, which provide better mobility for the commuter. MOT mentions that AV technology is not uncommon in Singapore, various mode of public transports operating through this technology has reduced manpower usage and the punctuality has been improved. According to MIT study (2011) (as cited in MOT, 2018) in Singapore, AV-enabled car sharing technology is capable to increase accessibility for commuter through reducing the number of personal vehicles on the roads. This technology helps reduces carbon footprint by improving road management. Committee on Autonomous Road Transport for Singapore (CARTS) has been established to lead Singapore closer to the achievement of AV-enabled land mobility.

Singapore is on the fast track to widespread driverless technology, despite offering a more efficient way of transport, but it overlooks the potential safety for the commuter. Having a driver with knowledge of road safety is more assuring than having a computer loaded with programmes and sensors which is prone to malfunction and cause an accident.

Throughout the article, MOT failed to mention the current safety of this technology. Road safety is a top priority in Singapore and a motorist have to go through a safety training course in order to get a license to drive a motor vehicle. The safety course is to teach motorists about road awareness and how to prevent accidents.
According to Lin (2016), in the morning an accident occurs between an autonomous vehicle and a lorry. “No one was injured when the car knocked into the lorry while changing lanes”. This shows that the present technology for AV is still not ready to be deployed on the main road.

Despite safety issue currently, there is too many unanswered regarding insurance for the driverless vehicle. An article by Hamann and Pearce (2018), “the party with the most control on how the car maneuvers and behaves holds the most responsibility.” Unlike modern days the faults lie on whoever that is controlling the vehicle and insurance will claim from the driver.

Another issue that MOT did not bring up is the reliability that AV technology can provide. An article by Levin (2018), “footage released by police revealed that the vehicle was moving in autonomous mode and did not appear to slow down or detect the woman even though she was visible in front of the car prior to the collision.”
No matter how perfect the technology is, it still has the tendency of breaking down after a long period of time or without proper maintenance. A vehicle that is not in the perfect condition could endanger other road user and commuter.

Safety is still the top priority when on the road, with present AV technology there is still room for improvement. Until AV is fully reliable it should remain off the main road.





References: 

Hamann, K. & Pearce, G. (2018, Apr 23) Will driverless vehicles drive insurance premiums down? Channel NewsAsia. Retrieved from
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/will-driverless-vehicles-drive-insurance-premiums-down-10156844


Lin, M. (2016, Oct 19). Driverless car hits lorry during test drive.
The Straits Times. Retrieved from
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/driverless-car-hits-lorry-during-test-drive

Levin, S. (2018, March 22). Uber crash shows 'catastrophic failure' of self-driving technology, experts say. The Guardian. Retrieved from
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/mar/22/self-driving-car-uber-death-woman-failure-fatal-crash-arizona

Ministry of Transport Singapore (2018). Driverless vehicles: A vision for Singapore’s transport. Ministry Of Transport Singapore. Retrieved from
https://www.mot.gov.sg/transport-matters/motoring/Detail/driverless-vehicles-a-vision-for-singapore-s-transport/



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