Transport minister admits British roads ‘not in great shape’<\/p>\n
Britain's transport minister has admitted that the nation's roads are not in the condition that they should be – and that this could hold back the adoption of new autonomous vehicle technology.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the House of Commons transport committee, Jesse Norman told MPs local roads in particular are "not in great shape" because they are seen as a less important part of the UK transport infrastructure, the Times reports.<\/p>\n
He conceded that the government will need to make improvements to roads and streets if self-driving cars are to become a reality, as they rely on cameras that interpret road markings in order to navigate the vehicles safely.<\/p>\n
Mr Norman admitted that many local road markings have become "inadequate" and that councils will need to provide "better marked" roads to prevent errors in autonomous vehicle operation.<\/p>\n
The comments come after research by KPMG found the UK has slipped two places to seventh in a list of rankings on progress and capacity for adopting driverless cars. Norway and Finland both overtook it this year after making significant improvements to their infrastructure.<\/p>\n
It is thought that the British government is keen to have autonomous vehicles in circulation by 2021.<\/p>\n
However, motorists in the UK are likely to be more interested in seeing action as a result of Mr Norman's comments due to the potential impact of highway improvements on their cars, let alone the effects on autonomous vehicle adoption.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Green Flag found drivers in this country are spending £4.09 billion a year on car repairs caused by potholes, with 56 per cent saying their vehicle has been damaged by one at some point.<\/p>\n
To this unfortunate majority, it will not come as a surprise that the local highways are "not in great shape" – and they are likely to be keen to see what Mr Norman is going to do about it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Transport minister admits British roads ‘not in great shape’ Britain's transport minister has admitted that the nation's roads are not in the condition that they should be – and that this could hold back the adoption of new autonomous vehicle technology. Speaking to the House of Commons transport committee, Jesse Norman told MPs local roads […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring-issues"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n