Four UK cities have been chosen to test driverless cars,
starting in January 2015. Thanks to £10 million of funding from
Innovate UK, the trials are set to take place in Greenwich, Milton
Keynes and Bristol.
The formal trials will last between 18 and 36 months and
will help us to understanding the role that driverless cars can
play in real-world environments. Milton Keynes and Coventry are set
to work together on a single project, with Bristol and Greenwich
conducting separate trials.
"The UK is a world-leader in the development of
driverless technology, and
today's announcement will see driverless cars take to city streets
from 1 January. This not only puts us at the forefront of this
transformational technology but it also opens up new opportunities
for our economy and society," said business secretary Vince
Cable.
Greenwich's proposed GATEway project will focus on safety and integrating
autonomous vehicles into a busy transport system. In Milton Keynes
and Coventry the Transport Systems Catapult centre will be testing autonomous
vehicles on roads in order to develop new legal and insurance
protocols, which will be vital in making driverless cars viable.
Bristol's Venturer Consortium will also look at legal and insurance
aspects of driverless vehicles, as well as testing public reaction
to them.
Don't
miss
A secondary purpose of all of the trials is to help the public
get used to seeing driverless cars on British roads.
Commenting on the announcement, Innovate UK's chief technologist
Nick Jones said: "There are so many new and exciting technologies
that can come together to make driverless cars a reality, but it's
vital that trials are carried out safely, that the public have
confidence in that technology and we learn everything we can
through the trials so that legal, regulation and protection issues
don't get in the way in the future."
Source Article from http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-12/04/uk-driverless-car-trial-cities http://cdni.wired.co.uk/620x413/g_j/Google%20Self-Driving%20Prototype%20Illustration.jpg
Driverless cars launch in four UK cities next month
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