An affordable British-built self-driving family car that can steer and brake by itself has been launched in the UK today by Japanese car giant Nissan. It has fitted its school-run favourite Nissan Qashqai sports utility vehicle with advanced autonomous driving technology that until now has been the preserve of expensive luxury vehicles such as top of the range BMW and Mercedes-Benz models. We were among the first to try the latest model - and the autonomous driving modes - on and off-road before it hits showrooms. Britain's first semi-autonomous car: The Sunderland-built Qashqai SUV will be the first UK-assembled model designed for families that will feature a host of new driverless tech Equipped with Nissan's new'ProPilot' system, the smart Qashqai, built at its UK factory in Sunderland, can steer, accelerate and brake automatically using data supplied by a camera mounted on its windscreen and a radar behind badge on front grille. Nissan stresses that its self-driving technology is currently there to aid the driver, not to take over from him or her. It added that the system should help transform driving by making it'less stressful and more confident'.

The most dangerous part of any car, say the experts, 'is the nut behind the steering wheel'. Human error is to blame for most accidents, so remove that'nut' and let the car drive itself and many lives will be saved, runs the argument now pushed by ministers, manufacturers and supporters of what is known as'autonomous driving'. And it certainly seems as if it's full speed ahead for the driverless car. The Prime Minister Theresa May and Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday confirmed plans -- widely trailed ahead of the Budget tomorrow -- to invest £900 million to deliver'fully driverless cars' by 2021. But is the Government right to be putting its foot on the accelerator?

German car giant BMW has demonstrated for the first time its fully self-driving car technology which it aims to have rolling out of showrooms within four years. Not only will drivers have their hands off the wheel, they'll soon have their feet off the pedals and their eyes off the road, said the car maker. The technology will be used in the futuristic'i-Next car' which from 2021 will be the firm's first fully-autonomous vehicle, powered by electric hybrid or a hydrogen fuel-cell. The all-electric version is expected to have a range of more than 300-miles thanks to new battery technology and it will be a real-life version of the Vision Next 100 prototype unveiled in 2016. Five levels of self-driving technology are used when the car completely drives itself, compared to the two or three used for cars currently on the road, and each one gives more control to the car itself.