call for evidence<\/a>, the government has outlined how vehicles fitted with Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) technology could legally be defined as self-driving, as long as they receive\u00a0GB\u00a0type approval and that there is no evidence to challenge the vehicle\u2019s ability to self-drive.<\/p>\nDesigned for use on a motorway in slow traffic,\u00a0ALKS\u00a0allows a vehicle to drive itself in a single lane, while maintaining the ability to return control to the driver when required.<\/p>\n
The DfT says the technology could improve road safety by reducing human error, which contributes to over 85 percent of collisions.<\/p>\n
\u201cSelf-driving technology in cars, buses and delivery vehicles could spark the beginning of the end of urban congestion, with traffic lights and vehicles speaking to each other to keep traffic flowing, reducing\u202femissions and improving air quality in our towns and cities,\u201d said Transport Minister Rachel Maclean. \u201cNot only are automated vehicles expected to improve road\u202fsafety, the technology\u202fcould\u202falso improve access to transport for\u202fpeople with mobility issues\u202fand lead to more reliable\u202fpublic transport services,\u202fhelping to level-up access to transport in\u202fhistorically disconnected\u202fand rural\u202fareas.\u201d<\/p>\n
SMMT\u00a0Chief Executive, Mike Hawes, added: \u201cThe automotive industry welcomes this vital step to permit the use of automated vehicles on\u00a0UK\u00a0roads, which will put Britain in the vanguard of road safety and automotive technology. Automated driving systems could prevent 47,000 serious accidents and save 3,900 lives over the next decade through their ability to reduce the single largest cause of road accidents \u2013 human error.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Self-driving vehicles could be seen on British roads for the first time later this year, the Department for Transport (DfT) has announced. Following a\u00a0call for evidence, the government has outlined how vehicles fitted with Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS) technology could legally be defined as self-driving, as long as they receive\u00a0GB\u00a0type approval and that there […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":10586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-global-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.edriving.com\/three60\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}