Most people drive along the motorway in a blur of concentration, radio singing and occasionally light daydreaming. Few consider how much the motorway has changed already, and how it will further develop in the future. With the roadways getting busier and busier, it’s worth considering what motorways could look like in another decade.
Consequently, here’s a quick rundown of how motorways could be different by 2028.
More Learner Drivers
Learner drivers were not allowed near motorways at any point before their test was past. It’s mildly understandable, learner drivers can be jittery behind the wheel, and one stall or bump could lead into a pileup. Still, it’s not like learners are completely incompetent behind the wheel until a test tells them that they aren’t!
Just last June, laws were changed that meant learner drivers at test-ready level could drive on motorways under the close supervision of their instructor. Consequently, in ten years’ time, it’s likely that learner drivers will be a very common sight on the motorway, instead of a rarity now under a relatively new law. Moreover, it can have a host of other benefits too, such as…
Safer Motorways
Unfortunately, motorways are notorious for fatal accidents, as many speed and drive carelessly. However considerate drivers tend to navigate the roads more cautiously under certain circumstances, like when a learn driver is around. They do this to take the pressure of the learner and to make sure everyone on the road is safe, so it’s quite feasible that motorways could be a bit safer in ten years.
Conversely, automation could play a big part in motorway safety too for the wrong reasons, as fleets of automated lorries have been developed and are now test-ready too. While you might think automation equates to safety, in this scenario it doesn’t. Britain has extremely busy motorways, and the reported consensus is that platooned automated lorries will block road signs and obscure the drivers view. Moreover, they’ll take up large amounts of room on already congested motorways, so they’ll likely create more problems than they’ll solve.
More Deliveries
The lorry drivers won’t be out of work though! It’s no secret that online shopping has experienced an enormous boom in recent years. Instead of shopping locally many people now order their goods online and businesses make orders for stock digitally too, sending lorries and their drivers up and down the country making endless deliveries. Freight is getting bigger and bigger, and the motorways busier in result.
Still, quality delivery companies like TNT are benefitting from this, particularly as it’s keeping their employees in work and their stock rolling along quite nicely. People are attracted to these easy and effortless services, but it’s also keeping the motorways very active too, so expect more and more lorries on the motorways in the next decade!