Skip to main content

France gives the go ahead for autonomous vehicle testing

The French government has given the go ahead for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads as part of its ‘New Industrial France’ plan to rejuvenate industry in the country. It sees autonomous vehicles as the future of the automotive industry, saying they are an indispensable step towards making mobility, regulation and security of traffic and transport more efficient and more environmentally friendly. The government also views autonomous cars as a way to improve road safety, saying that the cars sh
August 8, 2016 Read time: 1 min
The French government has given the go ahead for autonomous vehicle testing on public roads as part of its ‘New Industrial France’ plan to rejuvenate industry in the country.

It sees autonomous vehicles as the future of the automotive industry, saying they are an indispensable step towards making mobility, regulation and security of traffic and transport more efficient and more environmentally friendly.

The government also views autonomous cars as a way to improve road safety, saying that the cars should have a better reaction capacity than humans who may be tired intoxicated or distracted.

French automotive manufacturer PSA Group, which controls Peugeot and Citroen, has already participated in a 300km autonomous driving demonstration from Paris to Amsterdam during event set up by the Netherlands for European Union transport ministers.

Related Content

  • New opportunities in a data-rich future
    March 19, 2014
    Jason Barnes looks at where the detection and monitoring sector is heading. In the future, there will be no such thing as an un-instrumented road. Just a short time ago, that could have been a quote from a high-level policy document but with the first arrivals of vehicles with 802.11p connectivity – the door-opener to Vehicle-to-X (V2X) applications – it’s a statement which has increasing validity. The technology which uses our roads will also provide information on road conditions but V2X isn’t the only
  • Prime Minister’s ‘roads revolution’ good news for industry
    November 11, 2014
    Responding to the UK Prime Minister’s announcement which outlined a ‘roads revolution,’ the Freight Transport Association (FTA) has said that plans to deliver roads improvements across the country are good news for the freight and logistics industry. David Cameron stated that plans for the biggest road building programme for almost half a century will be unveiled in next month's Autumn Statement and would contain a US$24 billion overhaul of 100 of Britain's busiest roads and motorways by the end of the
  • PTV provides precise data on Paris traffic
    July 31, 2023
    GPS location of vehicles travelling around French capital will be used to ease congestion
  • Europe’s Sartre road train project takes to public roads
    May 29, 2012
    A road train, comprised of three Volvo cars plus one truck automatically driving in convoy behind a lead vehicle, has operated on a public motorway among other road users. The historic test on a motorway outside Barcelona, Spain, took place last week and was pronounced a success. “This is a very significant milestone in the development of safe road train technology,” commented Sartre project director, Tom Robinson of Ricardo. “For the very first time we have been able to demonstrate a convoy of autonomousl