With Dominic Taylor of Cōnsilium Aquīs Sulis.

Building on the 2025 AESIN conference presentation, ‘Fifty years of autonomous driving, lessons from the Rail Industry,’ this TechTalk will describe some of the things that can, and sometimes do, go wrong with autonomous vehicle operation.

These include faults in the automation systems themselves, which can lead to vehicles driving to the wrong place, stopping in the wrong place or, in more extreme cases, fatal collisions.

They also include interactions with human drivers and passengers, who can be misled into performing unsafe actions or suffer traumatic experiences as a result of deficiencies in automation systems, and the wider operational environment.

Drawing on real-world illustrations, the talk will show what has at times gone wrong with rail automation and what lessons could be learnt for automation in the Automotive Sector.