The British government has announced that it will approve testing of driverless cars on public roads in the United Kingdom before the end of 2013. According to a new 80-page report published on Tuesday entitled “Action for Roads: A network for the 21st century,” a team at Oxford University and Nissan have already begun work but have only been testing in private areas.
The plan comes less than a year after Florida, California, and Nevada have approved similar testing. Michigan is not far behind, either.
“When you’re sitting in that vehicle, you can see how it’s analyzing all these decisions much like you would as a normal driver,” Rick Snyder, Michigan’s governor, said in April 2013. “And it’s able to do it faster and better than many of us could as human drivers.”
In 2012, European researchers demonstrated in Spain and Sweden a “platoon” system “where advanced technology allowed a group of vehicles to link to, and follow, a lead vehicle without driver input,” according to the new UK report, which is seeking new plans to alleviate traffic and pollution and to foster better transportation management.
“The Highways Agency is developing new technology to provide traffic management information direct to vehicles, through standard mobile technology devices such as smartphones and satellite navigation devices,” it adds. “The project is looking to deliver a demonstrable system by 2014, and if trials are successful, we will be looking to roll out and develop the system further to deliver a more comprehensive in-vehicle information service.”
