The UK government has announced that driverless cars will be allowed on public roads from January next year.

It also invited cities to compete to host one of three trials of the tech, which would start at the same time.

In addition, ministers ordered a review of the UK's road regulations to provide appropriate guidelines.

The Department for Transport had originally pledged to let self-driving cars be trialled on public roads by the end of 2013.

Business Secretary Vince Cable revealed the details of the new plan at a research facility belonging to Mira, an automotive engineering firm based in the Midlands.

"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," he said.

UK engineers, including a group at the University of Oxford, have been experimenting with driverless cars. But, concerns about legal and insurance issues have so far restricted the machines to private roads.

Other countries have, however, been swifter to provide access to public routes.


Business Secretary Vince Cable 'felt safe' in driverless car
The US States of California, Nevada and Florida have all approved tests of the vehicles. In California alone, Google's driverless car has done more than 300,000 miles on the open road.

In 2013, Nissan carried out Japan's first public road test of an autonomous vehicle on a highway.

And in Europe, the Swedish city of Gothenburg has given Volvo permission to test 100 driverless cars - although that trial is not scheduled to occur until 2017.

Competition cash
UK cities wanting to host one of the trials have until the start of October to declare their interest.

The tests are then intended to run for between 18 to 36 months.

A £10m fund has been created to cover their costs, with the sum to be divided between the three winners.

Meanwhile, civil servants have been given until the end of this year to publish a review of road regulations.

This will cover the need for self-drive vehicles to comply with safety and traffic laws, and involve changes to the Highway Code, which applies to England, Scotland and Wales.

Two area will be examined by the review: how the rules should apply to vehicles in which the driver can take back control at short notice, and how they should apply to vehicles in which there is no driver.

I'm looking forward to the first time I get stuck behind a driverless car that's stuck behind a bicycle.

The driverless car will simply run them over. Cyclists represent zero earnings for the manufacturer of the car.

I'm looking forward to the first time I get stuck behind a driverless car that's stuck behind a bicycle.

Asimov's laws of robotics would prevent this.

Wait, they are legalising the cars on public roads at the same time they are starting trials?

That'll be fun!

I can't see how else they would trial cars on public roads.

Well, yes, but hopefully they're only legal for the trials and not in general at that point. In which case it's a much smaller story, and you'd assume they won't just chuck a few on the M25 'for the lulz'

I assume that even though they are called driverless there will be a human in them when they are out on the road??

So I guess they could override the car etc?

Driverless delivery vehicles?

I assume that even though they are called driverless there will be a human in them when they are out on the road??

So I guess they could override the car etc?

I assume that even though they are called driverless there will be a human in them when they are out on the road??

So I guess they could override the car etc?

Not in the latest Google ones, no. They have no manual controls.

It should stop right there, if you want to pull over you should say pull over.

There's still too many scenarios where a person might see an accident about to happen where a computer won't

I agree they should be better in most scenarios and but there are some, such as the example I gave where you might see a situation emerging which the computer simply could never predict. Given what the cars can see with their laser scanners and whatnot they have more accurate information about some things but almost none about things an alert driver should notice. They probably might not spot that a child has seen something across the road and is going to continue running across the pavement and right into the road. The car would just see a cluster of pedestrians on the pavement and have no cause to slow down or begin swerving even before there is an obstruction. In time they might but right now as I understand it they don't have this level of intuition.

Then they'll be going very slowly everywhere. And the price of the robot cars never having an accident will be 10mph traffic.

Then they'll be going very slowly everywhere. And the price of the robot cars never having an accident will be 10mph traffic.

Sleep is a bit extreme isn't it? I don't think I'd be able to nod off leaving my driving in the hands of my car. Not until the cars are well established anyway.

I do in aeroplance, trains, taxis and other cars.

Yes but someone else is in control.

Someone else who might lose concentration, fall asleep, glance at their cell phone, not notice a traffic light change to red, ...

True, but until every car is automatic, we will still have those issues.

Even when automatic cars are already demonstrably better at handling the variables of other human drivers on the road, than human drivers are?

This story doesn't get any better.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... rve-report