Health and safety is the theme of this month’s issue, so the column this time will also be on health and safety. It will look at recent material from the Ministry of Transport on future regulation, and on where the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) fits into health and safety.
The most interesting recent work from the ministry was the results of its study into future regulation, “Regulation 2015” (check out more on its website using these keywords). As you might expect, this looked at the impact of emerging technologies like intelligent transport system (ITS) on regulation. ITS covers driver assistance techniques like blind-spot recognition, lane control, and collision-avoidance systems right through to fully autonomous, driverless cars.
We already have ITS like anti-lock brakes, electronic stability control and even alcohol interlocks, which means we are already on the ITS path. The ITS summit next month will consider some vital issues about driverless cars.
Did you know, for instance, that there is no law in New Zealand that compels a car to have a driver? To that extent, we already permit driverless cars. In fact Tesla owners here have been using their cars on the autopilot setting already. An early issue will be how to run a mixed fleet of autonomous vehicles and older human-driven ones, which places where autonomous vehicles can be used, and where they can’t.
One comment from a Tesla owner is that the autopilot mode of operation is no good on two-way roads. If that is the case, we have a very long way to go before we can accept fully autonomous cars. And the well-publicised crash of a Google autonomous car suggests the technology has a way to go, too.
The general impression from the MoT material is that it agrees with a measured approach. It says that we need to support innovation, enable new technologies, and facilitate an integrated transport system, but manage the risk. Regulation should allow for monitoring and rapid removal of technologies which fail, or create unacceptable risks. Maybe cars will need a black box event recorder to understand whether the vehicle is at fault. They are available now for off-road enthusiasts, for example, so there is no great advance needed to have them in cars. But there will need to be care over the privacy issues of having your every movement tracked.
Reprogramming the car must be made difficult, yet there will be some, criminals or enthusiasts, who will want to reprogram for their own ends. After all, people already alter cars unlawfully. And imagine if hackers with malign intent get into the system and remove some of its safety features.
If we don’t have a driver, then is a driver licence redundant? A licence to drive may not be necessary, but a licence to use a self-driving car might be.
Like a gun licence, a driving licence would be based on character. Whether a person is responsible, rather than on operating skills. That might change the age profile of licence holders!
The CILT includes members who are experts in ITS, and in health and safety, from both a theoretical and practical point of view. They include those offering advice and training for those who drive for a living — and for their employers, the fleet owners. Given that the new Health and Safety at Work Act compels employers (as far as is reasonably practicable) to ensure the health and safety of their workers, seeking such advice and training might be something practicable that would be expected by the courts.
And don’t be lulled into false comfort by ‘reasonably’ — it is a tough test, and not what you think is reasonable, but an objective test of what a reasonable person in your position would do. And ‘worker’ is widely defined and includes contractors and their employees. CILT meetings are a useful place to make contact with these experts, and to pick their brains for free!
More formally, the CILT offers seminars and conferences too. Its annual forum on October 13 at the Hotel Intercontinental in Wellington will be focused on innovation (see cilt.co.nz). The seminar on the Health and Safety at Work Act in Land Transport previously mentioned in this column will be held on November 9 at the James Cook Hotel in Wellington. It will feature papers from Worksafe, the Police Commercial Vehicle Investigation Unit, a major trucking company, and a major bus company. A highlight will be an address from the Australian National Transport Commission on its heavy vehicle national law, which draws heavily on its model health and safety law. Since it is that law in which our new Health and Safety Act is based, there will be some interesting insights from the NTC.
If you are interested in attending these conferences or receiving further information as it comes to hand, please contact Marilyn Henderson at info@cilt.co.nz.
