​Driverless Trucks Being Tested with no Safety Regulations in China

Driverless technology has become a rage these days. Every auto manufacturer is putting in the best possible effort for successfully implementing the technology in its range of vehicles. The competition has toughened to such a level that some commercial vehicle manufacturers have actually started taking advantage of the lack of restrictions while testing the technology in China.

There are many companies including Google, Uber, Otto, Volvo, Daimler presently working on driverless projects. But what separates these from their Chinese counterparts is the absence of laws and legislations required to conduct tests pertaining to driverless trucks in China. United States even has a dedicated corridor for testing the technology on real road conditions. China on the other hand, despite many CV manufacturers openly talking about the developments and test runs they have made, is still not considering adopting policies for restricting or regularizing such tests in the country.

Recently Baidu, a Chinese web services company, had showcased a self-driving truck in China, which was developed in collaboration with Foton. China approximately has close to 7 million trucks and 16 million truck drivers working in the country.

Many other truck makers from China are not only trying to conduct more such trials as soon as possible, but are also positive that the Chinese Government will only introduce legislations meant to help the auto industry in China.

Auto majors are holding the driverless truck operations in China in high regard as it would allow the drivers to rest more and hence be able to complete longer hauls in shorter durations. Also, the technology would help transporters in maximizing profits through lesser driver involvement during the haulage sessions. But testing such technology in absence of any restriction can lead to fatal results. After all, we all know what kind of accidents trucks can cause.