Human factors implications of vehicle automation: Current understanding and future directions

Advances in vehicle-based technology are currently progressing at an ever- increasing rate and innovations in this areaare no longer restricted to Original Equipment Manufacturers or the automotive industry, with service providers such asGoogle and a number of research institutes in Europe and North America also offering possibilities for new approaches tomobility (see http://www.driverless-future.com/?page_id=155). The race to test the first fleet of such vehicles on publicroads is currently underway, with Volvo Cars announcing the start of its Drive Me project by 2017 (Volvo Cars, 2013)and the UK Government recently encouraging cities to engage in demonstrating trials of such vehicles on public roads fromJanuary 2015 (BBC, 2014). However, the homogeneous global implementation of fully autonomous vehicles is unlikely in thenear to distant future