UK driverless vehicle tests begin in London

Driverless pods have started started carrying members of the public around in North Greenwich, London, as part of the GATEway Project. The autonomous vehicles aren't fitted with a steering wheel or a brake pedal, and instead use a collection of five cameras and three lasers to detect and avoid obstacles on a two-mile route near the O2. They can see up to 100m ahead and are capable of performing an emergency stop if necessary, though they have a top speed of just 10mph. The prototype pods being used in Greenwich can carry four passengers at a time, but each of them will have a trained person on board during the three-week trial. The I.F.O. is fuelled by eight electric engines, which is able to push the flying object to an estimated top speed of about 120mph.