Allspares (Auto) Ltd.

More than 20 per cent of all accidents involving trucks take place in traffic queues or similar situations. That is why Volvo Trucks has developed a system called Automated Queue Assistance (AQuA), which helps the driver in slow-moving queues by taking control of the vehicle.

The system is being demonstrated between this week at the HAVEit Final Event in Gothenburg, Sweden.

HAVEit (Highly Automated Vehicles for Intelligent Transport) is an EU project whose purpose is the development of next-generation intelligent vehicles. Since the project got under way in 2008, a total of seven intelligent and autonomous solutions have been developed. They are now being demonstrated as the project reaches its conclusion. One of the systems being shown is Volvo Trucks’ Automated Queue Assistance, AQuA, which was developed in co-operation with Volvo Technology.

“Driving in a traffic queue is a very monotonous process. The driver may be at a standstill for long periods of time and in such a situation it is easy to become distracted, leading to accidents,” says Carl Johan Almqvist, Traffic and Product
Safety Director, Volvo Trucks.

The technology developed for AQuA helps minimise risks in queues. By equipping the truck with a number of technical features that can take control of the vehicle’s steering and speed, the driver gets help in driving the vehicle and maintaining a proper level of concentration.

When a traffic queue builds up, the driver can choose whether or not to activate the system, which operates at low speeds. It is possible to retake manual control at any time. The driver is always ultimately responsible for the vehicle, so to ensure proper focus on the traffic a camera registers how attentive the driver is and issues an alert if it detects a lack of concentration.

You can read the full ‘safer queues with new technology’ article by John Loughran at HGV.com