Georgia Institute of Technology School of Civil and Environmental Engineering

On the roadway toward autonomous vehicles, we probably have another decade or so before the truly independent car is part of our transportation network. But, Michael Hunter told WABE-FM’s Closer Look Sept. 26, we’re already in a world with partially driverless cars, where our vehicles help us with some of the tasks of driving.

Atlanta NPR member station WABE used the unusual example of a Looney Tunes character dangling a “go slow” sign to illustrate what many neighborhoods in the city are doing: installing signs to encourage drivers to check their speed.

Shared lane markings. Bike lanes painted a bright color. Bike boxes at intersections. Cycle tracks that provide physical barriers between bikes and cars. Communities have built these and other flavors of infrastructure to try to make it safer for people to ride their bikes along roadways or through neighborhoods. But which ones work best?

Appearing on the GPB public radio program On Second Thought March 16, transportation research Michael Hunter said the jury remains out on whether autonomous vehicles will make our roads safer. Hunter said such questions are the focus of inquiry as cities and states move closer to allowing the driverless cars on their roadways.