Skip to main content

German towns to test self-driving cars

Five German towns, Hamburg, Munich, Ingolstadt, Düsseldorf, Dresden and Braunschweig are to become testing grounds for self-driving cars, Minister for Transport Alexander Dobrindt has told tabloid Bild am Sonntag. Dobrindt made the announcement at the start of a funding programme for automated driving, for which the Ministry of Transport will provide US$89 million (€80 million) in funds towards a research project by 2020. He said: “Automated driving systems are gradually taking effect. Automated braki
August 10, 2016 Read time: 1 min
Five German towns, Hamburg, Munich, Ingolstadt, Düsseldorf, Dresden and Braunschweig are to become testing grounds for self-driving cars, Minister for Transport Alexander Dobrindt has told tabloid Bild am Sonntag.

Dobrindt made the announcement at the start of a funding programme for automated driving, for which the Ministry of Transport will provide US$89 million (€80 million) in funds towards a research project by 2020.

He said: “Automated driving systems are gradually taking effect. Automated braking assistants and digital driving are already reality. In five years, we will have standard highly-automated systems that steer our cars digitally along the motorway.”

During the pilot phase, tests will determine whether self-driving cars recognise traffic lights, crossroads and other obstacles in road traffic. So far, self-driving cars have been tested mainly on motorways in less complex conditions.

Related Content

  • March 3, 2020
    Cognitive boss on AV safety: ‘It’s about human life, not just big money’
    Olga Uskova, founder and president of Russia-based Cognitive Technologies, puts herself in the hotseat with ITS International to answer questions about advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), dominating the global market – and, of course, The Beatles…
  • August 20, 2014
    Google’s self-driving cars can ‘exceed the speed limit to aid safety’
    According to Google's lead software engineer, Dmitri Dolgov, the company’s self-driving cars are programmed to stay within the speed limit, mostly. Research shows that sticking to the speed limit when other cars are going much faster actually can be dangerous, Dolgov says, so its autonomous car can go up to 10 mph (16 kph) above the speed limit when traffic conditions warrant. Dolgov told Reuters during a test drive that when surrounding vehicles were breaking the speed limit, going more slowly could act
  • November 12, 2015
    Preventing connected vehicles creating disconnected drivers
    Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) are evolving at a rapid pace – but drivers’ ability to cope with them is not and at some point the mismatch must be addressed. Probably the biggest challenge the transportation industry has ever faced.” That is how Dr Bryan Reimer of Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab describes the challenges posed by semi-autonomous vehicles.
  • November 21, 2014
    European communicating cars test drive concludes
    The European communicating cars test drive along the Cooperative ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems) Corridor spanning Austria, Germany and the Netherlands has reached its final destination in the Netherlands. Initiated by NXP Semiconductors, the test drive also included Siemens, Honda, Cohda Wireless, TÜV Süd and automobile clubs AvD and ANWB. The ITS showcase ended in Helmond following a week-long tour which began at the Electronica electronics trade show in Munich. The event saw a convoy of five Ho