Wide scale self-driving car road tests begin in 2015

Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen (Infrastructure and Environment) is adjusting the exemption rules so that large scale tests with self-driving cars and trucks will be possible on the road from next year. Te proposal for the adjustment of the exemption rules was published on Monday. Affected industries and knowledge institutions can respond in the coming time. The proposal will be presented to the Second Chamber early next year. In June Minister Schultz announced that she wants the Netherlands to receive a pioneering roll in the development of self driving cars. Vehicles that can communicate with each other and traffic exchanges, can make a positive contribution to the flow of traffic, road safety and the environment, according to the minister. "The development of self driving cars is moving quickly. When you see the new techniques in some cars, then you can say that the transition phase has already begun." says Schultz, "Then Netherlands is the perfect testing ground for large scale testing with self driving vehicles. With our knowledge institutions and automotive sector, we ha a lot of knowledge and a good infrastructure to facilitate experiments with self driving vehicles."