Britain to Allow Driverless Cars on its Roads by Next Year

Google recently showcased their driverless car and it got a lot of folks excited. Now the British government is going a step further and will allow those cars to run on their streets by next year.

The British Business Secretary Vince Cable announced the news at the headquarters of engineering firm Mira. He said the country will undertake trials of computer controlled cars in three cities from next year onwards. The government will provide a 10 million pound fund for developing the technology in the UK.

British Business Secretary Vince Cable announced the decision yesterday.

 Presently the department of transport will work on a review of the laws to codify regulations for these cars on the road. The department will submit their report by the end of this year.

Automated cars are still in prototyping stage and it would have taken a tremendous leap of faith for the government to start working on the technology immediately. The controller systems, as they are still in their basic stages require a hefty investment of 90,000 above the cost of the car. So this technology might show up in high end cars first.

The real gearheads though would not care about the technology as convenience in ride is not a priority criterion for them. Even everyday commuters would not trust a computer with their lives initially.

Overall this seems like a great move on the part of the British government. Hopefully with more interest into the field and more investment the technology will become cheaper and will be in everyones grasp.

So, technology is out again to kill one more novel profession, this time it’s the chauffeurs.