ADELAIDE – South Australia’s Labor Government plans to allow driverless cars in regular traffic on the State’s public roads, under legislation to be introduced this week.Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan said that once

the legislation is passed, carmakers and technology companies will be

encouraged to test their autonomous vehicles on SA roads.

“All communities are going to go through a period of adjustment but I

think it’s absolutely critical to get this technology out in the community as

widely as possible and as quickly as possible because the benefits for the

community are extraordinary,” he said,

Mullighan told Australian IT he will be a guest of driverless car developer

Google X in California next week, along with a number of other regulators for

autonomous car technology, including reps from four US states, Britain and

France.

South Australia plans to stage a driverless car trial in November on Adelaide’s

Southern Expressway to coincide with a conference on the technology, but

Mullighan stressed that this does not require changes to the law, as the road

will be closed for that occasion.