Driverless lorries set to be road tested on UK motorway
Chancellor George Osborne is expected to announce plans to trial driverless, cutting-edge HGVs on UK motorways.
The scheme, which will be outlined in the Budget on March 16, is part of a government initiative to invest millions in automated car technology in a bid to improve efficiency and reducing traffic congestion.
According to The Times (£), the first convoy of driverless lorries will be tested on a quiet stretch of the M6 near Carlisle as early as next year.
Up to ten computer-controlled lorries forming a 'platoon' of vehicles will be driven just metres apart with a driver sitting behind the wheel of each one as a precaution.
The trucks communicate through radar and are able to detect the exact distance between one another to form a single formation row.
The Department for Transport has reportedly confirmed the scheme and said it would announce further details "in due course".
However, President of the AA, Edmund King, told the BBC he did not think the hi-tech vehicles would work in the UK.
"The problem with the UK motorway network is that we have more entrances and exits of our motorways than any other motorways in Europe or indeed the world, and therefore it's very difficult to have a 44 tonne 10-lorry platoon, because other vehicles need to get past the platoon to enter or exit the road."