The UK’s Department for Transport has announced that it’s developing a process that will support the advanced trials of autonomous vehicles. Alongside this news, the government said it was well on track to meeting its goal of having fully self-driving vehicles on UK roads by 2021 as part of its Industrial Strategy.
Bringing self-driving vehicles to UK roads promptly is seen as a very important goal. The market for connected and automated vehicles in the UK is expected to be worth around £52 billion by the mid-2030s. Discussing the news, Jesse Norman, Future of Mobility Minister, said:
“Thanks to the UK’s world class research base, this country is in the vanguard of the development of new transport technologies, including automation. The government is supporting the safe, transparent trialling of this pioneering technology, which could transform the way we travel.”
To accompany today’s news, the Department for Transport said that it has updated its ‘Code of practice: automated vehicle trialling’ document in order to provide clearer guidance on conducting trials safely and responsibly, improving transparency of trials, and engaging with the public, authorities, and other relevant bodies when planning trials. This document should clear up any confusion for businesses looking to bring these vehicles to the roads.