Following in the tracks of Google and Uber, Kanazawa University has thrown its hat into the ring in furthering the development of driverless car culture and technology, with a 5-year roadtesting project set to start next month. But this project’s target population isn’t tech-savvy youth. It’s senior citizens.
Kanazawa University has partnered with the Suzu city government in Ishikawa Prefecture, to conduct trials of self-driving vehicles on public roads from March 1 to the year 2020, the Asahi Shibum reported.
The project will have cars go 6.6 kilometers (4.1 miles) to a specific site by automatically manipulating the steering wheel, accelerator, brakes, turn signals and other devices.
Japan has carried out experiments with driverless cars before, but this marks the first time extensive tests will be run on roads used by other cars.
Officials say the project won’t violate any existing traffic laws, as the cars will be manned in case of malfunction. Google has had self-driving cars in development (and uses them on various office sites) since 2012, and Uber recently launched a development project of their own
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