APPLE'S fleet of self-driving vehicles is rapidly growing, despite concerns over the safety of driverless technology.

Driverless cars are in the public eye this week, after a pedestrian in the USA was killed by a self-driving Uber.

Apple is expanding its fleet of driverless cars in secret Credit: handout

Tech giants like Google and Apple have been trialling driverless technology for years.

It's expected that the first truly driverless cars will hit UK roads around 2020 or 2021.

So the world's biggest motor and tech firms are fiercely competing to have the best self-driving tech.

That's why Apple has doubled its fleet of driverless vehicles.

The iPhone maker hasn't confirmed any plans to launch an actual car that people can buy Credit: Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be publish

Back in April last year, the fruity firm had a permit to test just three autonomous vehicles.

This rose to 27 in January 2018, marking a significant step-change in the company's efforts.

And according to the latest figures given to the Financial Times by California's Department for Motor Vehicles, Apple's fleet of driverless cars has grown to 45 vehicles.

What is a driverless car? Here's what you need to know... Driverless cars are vehicles that can operate without a driver

Some cars (like the Tesla Model S) are already partially driverless

But they still require a driver behind the wheel to take over in an emergency

It's expected that fully driverless cars will hit UK roads in the year 2021

These vehicles will be fitted with sensors that track everything around them

They would be able to "see" pedestrians, road signs and other cars

A computer system would then dictate what actions the car takes

The big advantage of driverless cars is that they can react much quicker than humans

They can't drink-drive, they don't get tired and they won't get road rage either

Research suggests that driverless cars will make roads much safer

By comparison, Tesla only has 39 permits, and Uber has just 29 – although it's suspended testing as a result of this week's fatal incident.

On Sunday, mum-of-two Elaine Hezberg was hit by a self-driving Uber test car in autonomous mode with a "safety driver" behind the wheel.

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The 49-year-old Arizona resident was walking her bicycle across a road at 10pm when she was struck by the Volvo 4x4 at 40mph.

She later died from her injuries in a hospital.

Nevertheless, it's likely that tech giants will press on with their driverless car research.

It's believed that although self-driving cars will be involved in fatal accidents, they should help reduce the total number of road accidents and incidents in areas where they operate.

Apple hasn't confirmed plans to release the long-rumoured Apple Car driverless vehicle, but the company usually keeps quiet about all of its upcoming products – until it doesn't.

Are you excited for the driverless car future? Let us know in the comments.

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