Technology firms have announced plans to deploy driverless cars on UK motorways in the next three years.
Described as the most complex autonomous vehicle trial seen anywhere else in the world, the driverless cars will travel on motorways between London and Oxford in 2019.
The autonomous cars will have a human on board but will operate by themselves, communicating with each other about potential hazards.
Previous tests in the UK have mainly taken place in East London, close to the o2 arena. These were taken at slow speeds and not on public roads.
In total, the UK government has pledged £100 million towards to driverless vehicles as it hopes to “lead the way in developing” the industry. For this specific project, the government have contributed a £8.6 million grant.
One expert believe this is not enough and the UK are at risk of falling behind.
“Britain is trying to keep up, but the big development in the field is going on elsewhere,” said Professor David Bailey from Aston Business School. “The Obama government, for example, proposed spending billions of dollars over 10 years.”
“Today’s news is truly ground-breaking. No company, group or consortium of autonomy experts has ever attempted what Driven is planning over the next 30 months.” said Dr Graeme Smith, the chief executive of Oxford-based company Oxbotica.
“We are seeking to address some of the most fundamental challenges preventing the future commercial deployment of fully autonomous vehicles.” he added.
Paul Newman, a Professor from Oxford University, said: ” Driven is the first of its kind and brings a host of new questions surrounding the way these vehicles will communicate with each other.
“We’re moving from the singleton autonomous vehicle to fleets of autonomous vehicles and what’s interesting is what data the vehicles share with one another, when and why.”