The UK government yesterday launched a £20 million competitive fund for collaborative research and development into driverless vehicles, along with a code of practice for testing. The measures announced by Business Secretary Sajid Javid and Transport Minister Andrew Jones will put the UK at the forefront of the intelligent mobility market, expected to be worth £900 billion by 2025.



Professor Nick Reed, Technical Lead of the GATEWay project & Academy Director at TRL shares his thoughts on the latest announcement:



“The development of vehicles in which a driver can disengage from the driving task represents a hugely significant step forward in transportation. It will revolutionise the way in which we move people, goods and services around our transport network, with predicted benefits to safety, efficiency and mobility. However, understanding how regulations and legislation need to change to accommodate these vehicles is one of the many challenges that need to be overcome before we start seeing such vehicles on our roads.



“Much research and development is required before driverless cars become commonplace on our streets, but the launch of the code of practice brings this vision a step closer. It sets the scene for the safe evaluation and development of highly and fully automated vehicles for years to come and is another example of how the UK is leading the charge in this area. Combined with the £20m funding and the launch of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, the UK is now firmly positioned at the centre of future mobility.







“Since the press launch of the GATEway project in February, the TRL-led consortium has been working hard to lay the necessary foundations for the planned autonomous vehicle trials. We want to make sure that the trials are optimally developed and delivered, so the first public vehicle trials won’t take place until 2016. But now that the new Code of Practice has given the green light for testing on UK roads, it won’t be long before you see one of our self-driving vehicles out in the public again.”



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