Look for Road Trains in your future

Convoys back in the 1980s meant that you had a string of trucks (and an occasional car) traveling together while conversing over CB radios.  In the near future, convoy may mean joining a string of cars called a Road Train.  The Road Train is headed by a truck or other vehicle that is capable of taking control of your car so you can engage in other activities.

This idea is actually going to be tested in a European Union initiative called SARTRE (Safe Road Trains for the Environment).  According to Exvis, these Road Trains should be hitting the highways within the next few years.  The idea is to reduce fuel consumption and improve safety.  As a bonus, the person sitting in the drivers seat can nap, read, text, eat, put on makeup, play games with their children in the backseat, or any other activity that inventive minds can envision while moving towards their destination.

A professional driver would be leading(driving?) the Road Train.  The following vehicles would be connected and controlled by a “satellite piloting” system.  The truck and following cars would be able to exchange information on such things as when to speed up, slow down, or stop when in a traffic jams.  This system would also allow optimum spacing between vehicles so more cars could be in less space.

The Road Trains would be limited to a maximum of 10 cars.  How do you become a part of a Road Train?  Well the idea is that as you get on the highway you would join the nearest convoy.  Presumably, this would be a simple process that would enable the Road Train, your car and you to distinguish which of hopefully many Road Trains you have joined.  Exiting the Road Train and highway will presumably be a simple and easy to accomplish maneuver.  It isn’t hard to envision the ease by which one could miss their exit while engrossed in a good book, or napping. 

When Road Trains work as they should most of the stress and road rage that accompanies traffic jams should be reduced, productivity and safety increased. 

Of course, the optimum for greenhouse gas reduction and fuel economy would be to have a Road Train composed of cars containing multiple commuters. 

• 

Related posts:

1. Turbo charge your future with micro turbines from MTT
2. Improve your gas mileage with a boat tail on your 18 wheeler
3. Iceland is moving toward a hydrogen future
4. Newly created nanomaterial promises advances in future cars, computers, and solar energy
5. Look for innovative tandem cars from Volkswagen, Renault, and Nissan