U.K. to Begin Driverless-Car Road Tests

The U.K. has approved a 10 million (€12.5 million) plan to begin evaluating self-driving cars on public roads in January.

The government will select three cities for the trials, which will run for 18-36 months each. Business Secretary Vince Cable says the project is intended to help put Great Britain "at the forefront of this transformational technology."

Government sources described the program to the Financial Times in December, declaring the government would remove bureaucratic hurdles to help the U.K. become a global development center for driverless-car technologies.

Last November a poll by Robert Bosch GmbH found 70% of British drivers claiming they would not consider buying a self-driving car. Half said they would feel unsafe riding in an autonomous vehicle.