Bumpy road as ageing Japan bets on self-driving cars

A Nissan Motor staff member, his hands off the steering wheel while seated in the driver’s seat of the company’s autonomous vehicle, during a press preview for a field operation test of Easy Ride, a driverless mobility service, at the Minato Mirai business district in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture. — AFP

TOKYO: With an ageing population in need of transport, Japan is betting on autonomous cars, but an accident involving a self-driving showcase at the Paralympics illustrates the challenges ahead.

Japan is far from the only place with autonomous vehicles on the roads, but its government has set acceleration of the technology as a key priority.