Coming to roads near you soon

While many car manufacturers have set the date of 2020 for when autonomous cars will be roaming our roads, other experts reckon this motoring revolution will happen sooner.

Car executives I’ve spoken to, at recent international motor shows, say that as more manufacturers move towards selfdriving cars, the technology developed and shared will see autonomous vehicles legalised within the next year.

For example, it was announced this week that Fiat Chrysler and Google will offer rides to the American public in their selfdriving vehicles for the first time.

Waymo, Google's self- driving car project, said it is adding 500 Chrysler Pacifica hybrid minivans to its self- driving vehicle fleet.

That will allow hundreds of people in the Phoenix, Arizona area to take rides in the vehicles so the company can get feedback on the experience, reports AP.

In 2015, Waymo let a blind man ride around Austin, Texas, in one of its completely self- driving pods.

Uber has had self- driving Volvos on the road in Pittsburgh since last year, while uTonomy is giving taxi rides to passengers in Singapore and Boston — but in all cases, there is a backup driver behind the wheel.

According to AP, Waymo says it wants to learn where people want to go in a self- driving vehicle, how they communicate with it and what kinds of information and controls they want.

Waymo says self- driving cars could prevent many of the 1.2 million deaths that occur on roads worldwide each year.

In New Zealand, MercedesBenz, BMW, Volvo, Audi and Tesla have semi- autonomous driving systems. ABOUT US Editor Tony Verdon Editor at Large Liz Dobson Contributors Cameron Officer, Jacqui Madelin, David Kavermann, Matthew Hansen, Bob McMurray, Donna McIntyre, Ted Baghurst Cover design Jennifer Adams Cover photo Ted Baghurst Driven advertising Todd Fuller ( 021 986027)