First UK trial of driverless pods paves way for autonomous taxis

Driverless car trials have finally reached the UK, in the form of two-seater "pods" zipping down pedestrianised streets in Milton Keynes. The purple and white vehicles, designed by automotive firm RDM, look like a cross between a golf cart and a bubble. The doors open vertically, but from the inside it just looks like a regular automatic car hooked up to an iPad. It's hard to tell that the car has been kitted out with the latest driverless control systems by Oxbotica, a spinout company from the Oxford Mobile Robotics Group. Tom Wilcox, a senior software engineer involved in the project, tells me he's there to grab the steering wheel if something goes wrong.