The UK government has revealed the first £20m of a fund to ease the passage of driverless cars into society and a Code of Practice to govern development and use.
Whilst trials of driverless vehicles are already taking place in the UK the government is keen to ramp up development.
Business secretary Sajid Javid said: “To boost productivity Britain will need to capitalise on new technologies like driverless vehicles, securing high skilled jobs for those who want to work hard and get on, and contributing to a more prosperous future for the whole of the country.
“Our world beating automotive industry, strengths in innovation and light touch regulatory approach to testing driverless technology combine to make the UK market competitive and an attractive destination for investors.”
The government hopes that code of practice will ensure that all development work is aimed in the right direction.
Whilst the funding will be provided on a like-for-like basis to organisations that can present coherent plans for automated vehicles.
Professor Nick Reed, technical lead of the GATEWay project and academy director at TRL, said: “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.”