Britain to Test Driverless Cars on Motorways Next Year

Britain to Test Driverless Cars on Motorways Next Year

With no legal barriers, autonomous vehicles will be hitting “some local roads.”

Britain said it will begin trialing driverless cars on motorways for the first time in 2017, as it moves toward its goal of allowing autonomous cars to take to the streets by 2020.

The government said last year there were no legal barriers to the technology being tested and gave the go-ahead for vehicle trials to start on some local roads.

Finance minister George Osborne will announce plans on Wednesday to test vehicles on motorways and say the government will bring forward proposals to remove regulatory barriers to the technology, the Treasury said.

“Naturally we need to ensure safety, and that’s what the trials we are introducing will test,” Osborne said in a statement ahead of his annual budget presentation.

“If successful, we could see driverless cars available for sale and on Britain’s roads, boosting UK jobs and productivity.”

Google’s Self-Driving Cars Face Significant Hurdles

The market for autonomous driving is worth 900 billion pounds ($1.29 trillion) worldwide, according to the government, but needs to overcome legal obstacles including determining who would be responsible in the event of an accident.

Read more : http://fortune.com/2016/03/12/britain-driverless-cars-2017/