Bell Equipment, South Africa’s leading heavy equipment manufacturer and distributor announced the global and domestic release of its first autonomous vehicles (AV) in 2022. Their ADT was first exhibited at the MINexpo 2021 in Las Vegas. Pronto AI, the safety and automation technology developer, is the partner of Bell in its quest to produce the ‘most affordable autonomous ADT’ in the world.
Automation Technology to Improve Safety
South Africa committed to reduce road fatalities by 50% by 2030 as part of the 50BY30 Campaign of Towards Zero Foundation. Unfortunately, the 14% increase in road fatalities during the festive season is worrying and shocking says the Automobile Association (AA). It is estimated that 1,685 people perished on the country’s roads from December 2021 to the first half of January 2022. Unless urgent interventions are implemented such as road safety education, traffic law enforcement, and better prosecution, to name some, the numbers are not going down. Vehicular accidents are horrific causing injuries and claiming lives. Although victims can hire a car and trucking accident attorney to claim damages, the consequences are far reaching disrupting lives, reducing productivity, and affecting psychological/mental health.
One way to fight the increasing road fatalities is to introduce safer vehicles. For example, driver error is one of the main reasons of truck accidents. With the introduction of semi-automated or fully automated vehicles, human errors are drastically reduced making it safer to operate trucks or vehicles on the roads. Fitted with sensors and cameras, self-driving cars and trucks can improve the safety of the driver as well as other motorists and pedestrians. It can even help in decongesting roads and reduce emissions.
Self-Driving Vehicles Still Need to Be Programmed
According to Bell’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Leon Goosen, ‘autonomous’ does not mean that the ADT can think on their own. Truck owners and operators will still need to program the vehicle to perform tasks according to their needs. To illustrate, a mining company must tell the truck where to load, unload, or go. Only then can it operate on its own without a driver or operator behind the wheel.
In addition, there is one caveat when it comes to deploying driverless trucks on the roads. Unlike in Europe and the US, Africa lags when it comes to road infrastructure development especially in basic traffic control systems. For autonomous vehicles to operate correctly, well-marked streets, functioning streetlights, and updated road signs are indispensable. The lack of regulations on driverless vehicles is also a problem. However, things could change soon starting with the announcement of the Department of Transport to introduce new regulations on self-driving vehicles in South Africa as it anticipates the arrival of autonomous cars in the country. In short, the government is moving towards policy, legislation, and strategies to provide an encouraging environment to test and develop AV technology.
Africa continues to take part in the race for smart mobility. With the launching of locally manufactured self-driving vehicles this year in the global market, the continent is making its biggest leap yet towards autonomous mobility.
