One of PACTS unique selling points is its wide membership base across transport modes, the public, private, and third sectors. In July, our community of members met twice, at a joint-working party meeting on Tuesday at Loughborough University in London, and online at the Council of Members meeting. Both were opportunities to connect and celebrate the depth of knowledge and experience of our members.
Professor Andrew Morris from Loughborough discusses the role that road safety technologies play in complimenting the “human factor”.
PACTS Joint Working Party meeting featured Professor Andrew Morris from Loughborough speaking on human factors, the element of humanity that remains alongside technological developments. A site visit to the Smart Living Lab meant members could actively engage with infrastructure and control room setups for autonomous vehicle testing by TRL. Later, Ford presented details of their hands-free motorway driving technology, BlueCruise, due to launch in England next year, with local authorities sharing different initiatives to measure and manage vehicle speed.
PACTS members tour TRL’s Smart Mobility Living Lab
July’s Council of Members meeting was chaired by PACTS President Barry Sheerman, MP. Derek Winter, Deputy Chief Coroner for England and Wales, gave insight into the duties of coroners, including their preparation of future death reports. These documents are essential to bringing about the changes necessary to improve transport safety. There are increasing opportunities for linking safety and sustainability, and Becky Taylor’s presentation, as Director of Strategy, Policy, Digital, and Media at the DVSA, laid out their priorities in these fields. PACTS new Executive Director also spoke, summarising PACTS achievements of the last year.
The PACTS ‘Transport Safety Community’ gathers like this three times a year, covering road environment, vehicle design, road user behaviour, and rail safety. These gatherings provide opportunities to promote research findings, make connections, and learn about developments in transport safety policy.