Self-Driving Cars Are Coming to the U.K. Early Next Year

The U.K. government just announced that
driverless cars will be hitting public roads less than half a year
from now. The Department of Transport (DOT) had previously planned
to allow autonomous cars on the road in late 2013, but they just
announced that January 2015 will be the first time someone can take
an autonomous car out for a spin.

Vince Cable, the U.K.’s business secretary, recently unveiled
the new plan at an automotive engineering firm called Mira,
saying:

“Today’s announcement will see driverless cars 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.”

The U.K. DOT also invited three cities to partake in trials as
volunteers starting next year. Ten million euros will be divided
between the three cities to help cover the costs. Researchers at
Oxford University have been experimenting
with the cars over the past couple years. 

Despite the many potential benefits of self-driving cars, such
as the elimination of human negligence and decrease in traffic
congestion, there has been some pushback from government agencies.
The Guardian uncovered
objections from the FBI through Freedom of Information
Act requests. Officials claimed in a report that:

“Autonomy … will make mobility more efficient, but will also
open up greater possibilities for dual-use applications and ways
for a car to be more of a potential lethal weapon that it is
today.”

Despite the government’s quibbles, countries around the world
are exploring driverless cars. Here in the U.S., California,
Nevada, Florida, Michigan, and the District of Columbia have all
passed laws regarding self-driving cars, and potential legislation
is on the docket in more states. In Japan, Nissan started testing
their self-driving cars in 2013. A city in Sweden has permitted
Volvo to test 100 driverless cars, but those experiments won’t be
taking place until 2017. 

Google’s autonomous vehicles alone have already travelled
700,000 miles after getting permission from Nevada to test their
technology on public roads. They have gone all of those miles with
only getting in one crash, which happened when a driver ran into
the back of them. 

Read Ron Bailey’s
The Moral Case for Self-Driving Cars.