Driverless technology edges closer to Ireland

With trials of driverless cars coming to several British cities, the UK has joined the autonomous driving revolution alongside technology giants like Google and major car companies.

The search engine giant has been testing its own version of the technology for several years on the streets close to its headquarters in California.

Google says it has already clocked up more than 300,000 miles in testing its vehicles, and would like to have the technology on the roads by 2020.

This technology has become something of a trend among the Silicon Valley heavyweights, with Tesla announcing in October a new autopilot feature would be built into all its cars that come off the production line.

As with any major seismic shift in society's relationship with technology, however, it is a veritable minefield of potential legal quandries. The actual technology itself is also not that new, having been trialled in various private tests in the US by the likes of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency alongside major global car giants and leading universities. The limiting factor with letting them lose on the public was always the seemingly unending list of "what ifs" that follow any discussions on such topics.

News that a limited trial will get underway on our neighbour's public roads suggests an increasing confidence that those questions and concerns are ready to be addressed. Perhaps, given our eagerness to welcome the tech giants to our shores, and all their talk of carrying out important research in Ireland, it might be time to get involved alongside our neighbour.

We took a lead on supposed electric car revolution - installing charging points across the nation - but that promise went flat. It’s understandable if legislators are a little cynical about joining any early adopters on this latest tech move, but the move to driverless cars does seem to have more traction.