Google revealed its intention to start building 100 of its own self driving cars last week, prompting a mixed industry response to the idea of introducing ‘autonomous’ vehicles.

The 25MPH cars will feature software designed to drive from point A to point B without requiring any human intervention, leaving drivers in charge of only a button to start or pull over, an emergency stop button and a screen showing the route.

Aecom regional director Samya Ghosh said: “It is a great, futuristic concept, but personally I can’t foresee self driving vehicles taking over the whole car industry.

“Consistency from all cars is important on the road and I don’t know how far these Google cars would be able to replicate driver behaviour.”

Google will begin testing prototypes later this summer to demonstrate how driverless vehicles could work on the road. These will have sensors that remove blind spots and will be able to detect objects out to a distance of 200m in all directions.

Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety executive director David Davies said: “Driverless cars are going to happen sooner or later and technology will become better than human drivers.

“The issue is making sure it happens safely, which will be challenging and having a mix of autonomous and manual vehicles presents a potential danger, especially in a complicated urban environment with pedestrians and cyclists.”

AA head of roads policy Paul Watters said: “There are significant legal hurdles to overcome – currently drivers are responsible and liable for what may go wrong. It will take a big leap of faith for society to embrace cars which drive themselves.”

Photo: Google

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