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

  • ASECAP examines tolling’s trials, tribulations and triumphs
    September 4, 2018
    If you want to get up to speed on the main issues facing the transport sector and tolling companies, ASECAP Study Days event in Ljubljana was a good place to start. Colin Sowman reports (Photographs: Louis David). Increasing populations, ever-higher technical and safety requirements, and electric and hybrid vehicles will provide both challenges and opportunities for tolling companies. The annual Study Days event organised by ASECAP (the European association for tolling companies) examined all of these aspec
  • IRF takes politicians to task on road safety
    January 7, 2013
    The International Road Federation has issued a wake up call to government ministers, in the form of its Vienna Manifesto on ITS. Four years on from coming to a key decision on ITS, the International Road Federation (IRF) now faces a further question – how can it ensure its Vienna Manifesto on ITS achieves maximum impact? This is a challenge the organisation is not taking lightly. Issues the manifesto has been drawn up to address have become more acute in the time taken to publish it and are forecast to wors
  • Motown morphs into Mobility City
    August 7, 2018
    Detroit was once a byword for urban decay – but ITS America recently held its annual meeting there. This gave David Arminas a chance to assess how fast Motor City is moving down the road to recovery. Motor City, as Detroit is still called, was on its financial knees only five short years ago. The future looked bleak as the city and greater urban area bled jobs and population. It was on 18 July 2013 that Motown, as Detroit is also known, filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection, the
  • Arup’s vision of urban mobility in 2050
    May 6, 2015
    Arup’s vision of the Future of Highways considers a wide range of factors that will impact on mobility towards the middle of the century. In its consideration of the Future of Highways through to 2050, international consultants Arup has taken a broad and pragmatic view of where society is heading and the effects that will have on the transport requirements. In terms of major drivers it not only cites