Belgium open to exploring autopilot car technology

Flemish Liberal party (Open VLD) is a proponent of lifting the ban on self-driving vehicles in Belgium, and is working on a legislative initiative that would see Belgium and the Netherlands lead the way in testing the first autonomous cars, reports De Morgen. The Senate is working on a proposal to remove the last legal obstacles that currently stand in the way of the new technology.

"We are very interested in the technology," said Koen Peeters of the Belgian Road Safety Institute (BIVV/IBSR). "If you look at the accident figures, you see that the vast majority are still caused by human error: speeding, estimation errors, abrupt manoeuvres... The driverless cars would perform better, but it is important that the system be thoroughly tested. We must be sure that everything is working 100% before we start using it."

Tesla, Audi, Volvo and BMW, among others, are all working on their own versions of the autonomous car. Internet giant Google this week put the final touches on its first full prototype.