Traffic lights could become obsolete in 20 years, an engineer supporting a groundbreaking self-driving cars trial said. Thomas Tompkin of Smart Mobility Living Lab (SMLL) told the PA news agency “a seismic shift in the way our roads are laid out” is possible.
Two self-driving electric cars built by Japanese manufacturer Nissan have completed hundreds of laps around a 2.7-mile route featuring busy A roads in Woolwich, south-east London during the past two years. This is part of the ServCity project to identify and overcome barriers to deploying autonomous vehicles in cities, which ends next month.
It is believed to be the UK’s first trial of driverless technology involving the use of roadside infrastructure as well as the vehicles’ own systems. Around 270 cameras installed on the route by the SMLL relay information to the Nissan Leaf cars about potential issues ahead, such as buses stopped in the left lane.
