The government has announced a raft of new steps to allow driverless automobiles to be evaluated on UK roads for the first time from 2015.
Vince cable television has launched a review to look at current road policies to establish how the UK can guarantee that the automobiles can be evaluated thoroughly. Up until now they have only been able to be evaluated on private roads.
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Two areas of driverless automobile tech will be covered in the reviews: those with a qualified chauffeur who can take control of the driverless automobile and fully autonomous cars with no chauffeur present.
UK cities can also now bid for a share of a £10 million competition to host the driveless automobile trials. up to three cities will be selected to begin trials from January 2015, with each project expected to last between 18 and 36 months.
Vince cable television said: “Today’s announcement will see driverless automobiles take to our streets in less than six months, putting us at the forefront of this transformational technology and opening up new opportunities for our economy and society.”
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The department of carry had previously promised to allow self-driving automobiles on the roads by 2013. However, UK engineers, including a group from Oxford that created an autonomous Nissan Leaf, have so far been confined to testing on private roads.
At the same time other countries have been trialling the cars on normal roads, including Google’s adapted Lexus RX 450h that has been put through its paces on Californian roads.
The British public may still need some convincing, however. According to research from Churchill automobile insurance, 56 per cent of UK adults wouldn’t purchase a driverless car, while one in four believe that they won’t be safe.
The most significant worry for the majority of people (60 per cent) is a malfunction of some kind. This was followed by 56 per cent concerned about a lack of human control and a third concerned about cyber safety and security issues.
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