Self-driving cars reach London streets in new trial
Ford Motor Co.
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11:10 24/04/24
Ford hit a UK milestone for self-driving vehicles this week with the first test drive of one of its cars around Stratford.
The first demonstration of a Ford Mondeos, fitted with autonomous technology from UK tech firm Oxbotica, was carried out in a ‘complex urban environment’, on public roads around the former Olympic Park in Stratford.
Directors of the £13.6m Driven programme said that it had “exceeded their initial plan” and that it marked a significant step in confirming that autonomous vehicles could operate in real-life situations in a large European city.
The Driven team have been conducting trials in Oxford to examine the “ecosystem” around autonomous vehicles and the problems that could arise around it.
The cars were operated with a safety driver in the front seat ready to take control.
Graeme Smith, Driven’s programme director and Oxbotica’s senior vice-president said the project was making “autonomous vehicles a reality on our roads”.
He said: “The car is a bauble on top of the iceberg: underpinning that is a host of other things that need to happen, from cybersecurity to ensure we have constant, secure communication; insurers for product liability and real-life risk assessment.”