Fully autonomous cars will make Britain's roads safer, according to a pioneer of driverless vehicles. Professor Paul Newman, who was behind the UK's first and only self-driving car on public roads, said that the ability to share data between robots was a powerful tool that should be embraced. Over the last five years autonomous technology has developed rapidly, with the likes of Google and traditional motor manufacturers designing driverless cars. Last year Ocado trialled in London the delivery of food to customers with a self-driving truck, which was developed by Oxford-based Oxbotica, a company co-founded by Prof Newman. Other semi-autonomous technology is being pioneered in cars with features such as Tesla's Autopilot and BMW's traffic jam assistant.

Fully autonomous cars will make Britain's roads safer, according to a pioneer of driverless vehicles. Professor Paul Newman, who was behind the UK's first and only self-driving car on public roads, said that the ability to share data between robots was a powerful tool that should be embraced. Over the last five years autonomous technology has developed rapidly, with the likes of Google and traditional motor manufacturers designing driverless cars. Last year Ocado trialled in London the delivery of food to customers with a self-driving truck, which was developed by Oxford-based Oxbotica, a company co-founded by Prof Newman. Other semi-autonomous technology is being pioneered in cars with features such as Tesla's Autopilot and BMW's traffic jam assistant.

A car that is able to drive itself on familiar routes has been shown off at an event at Oxford University. The technology uses lasers and small cameras to memorise regular journeys like the commute or the school run. The engineers and researchers behind the project are aiming to produce a low-cost system that "takes the strain" off drivers. Other companies, such as Google, have also been testing driverless vehicle technology. The search giant has pushed for law changes in California to allow its car to be tried out in real-life situations.