File photograph shows the rear of a Lexus SUV equipped with Google self-driving sensors during a media preview of Google's prototype autonomous vehicles in Mountain View, California September 29, 2015. Britain said on March 12, 2016 it will begin trialling driverless cars on motorways for the first time in 2017, as it moves towards its goal of allowing autonomous cars to take to the streets by 2020. Finance minister George Osborne will announce plans on Wednesday to test vehicles on motorways and say the government will bring forward proposals to remove regulatory barriers to the technology, the Treasury said. Alphabet Inc GOOGL.O unit Google wants to eventually be able to deploy fully autonomous vehicles without human controls, and major automakers are racing to develop vehicles that can drive themselves at least part of the time. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/Files
LONDON: A driverless vehicle carrying passengers will take to Britain's public roads for the first time on Oct 11, as part of trials aimed at paving the way for autonomous cars to hit the highways by the end of the decade.
The government is encouraging technology companies, carmakers and startups to develop and test their autonomous driving technologies in Britain, aiming to build an industry to serve a worldwide market which it forecasts could be worth around £900bil (RM4.60tril) by 2025.
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