‘I was waiting for the auto brakes’

A MOTORIST who crashed on the M62 near Huddersfield on Sunday made an astonishing admission to motorway cops.

The motorist revealed they had been expecting their car’s anticollision system to automatically brake for them as they came off the motorway at junction 25, Brighouse.

But instead of stopping, the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle ploughed into the back of a Ford Focus, causing significant damage to both cars.

West Yorkshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit officer, Pc Martin Willis, sent a Twitter warning to the growing number of drivers whose vehicles have the technology: that they were still ultimately in charge of their destiny.

“A lesson to be learned,” he said, as he published pictures of the heavily damaged cars. Don’t rely on anti-collision technology.”

A number of car manufacturers now advertise that their vehicles have the ability to predict collisions and are controlled by computer systems that will apply the brakes if an impact is imminent.

But there have been numerous examples around the world of the systems completely failing.

Nissan’s website boasts that some of its vehicles have the “Nissan Safety Shield.”

It says: “Intelligent emergency braking warns you and applies the brakes if it detects a risk of forward collision with a vehicle or even a pedestrian.”

The crash on Sunday is thought to be the first highlighted by police in West Yorkshire.

Members of the public agreed with Pc Willis.

One wrote: “My car has this – I hate it and ignore it – pay attention people and take responsibility for your own car and actions!”

Said another: “My new BMW has this but I would NEVER trust it.

“There’s no substitute for working out when to brake for yourself!”

The collision comes as transport scientists predict a rise in the use of driverless ‘autonomous’ vehicles over the next few years.

Trials of autonomous vehicles have taken place in the USA but there have been a number of high profile accidents that have claimed three lives. Another fatality occurred in China.

In the UK, the government last year agreed to a three-year review of autonomous vehicles.