Virginia wants to show other states how to test self-driving cars.
Four states in the U.S allow the testing of autonomous cars on public roads: Nevada Florida,California, Michigan and Washington DC. Virgina is the new entrant to that list. It has allowed the testing of driverless cars on 70 miles of congested highways in the northern part of the state. The highways in that region are now dubbed the ''Virgina Automated Corridors.''
The new project will be supervise by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and will also be responsible for insuring cars that passed the test, as well as provide license plates.
According to reports, before any of the self-driving vehicles can cruise on Virgina highways, they will have to hit the tracks of the VTTI smart road in Montgomery County and the Virgina International Railway in Halifax County, in order to certify that they are safe. Also, as with trialling self-driving cars on roads, a human driver will be at the wheel at all times for safety reasons.
Google, General Motors are reportedly two of several companies interested to test their robotic vehicles in Virginia highways. Those living in the state could start to automated cars later this year. Bookmark this page or Subscribe to get the