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South Australia Frees the Way for Self-Driving Cars

A while ago, Stephen Mullighan, South Australia’s Transport Minister, visited Tesla Motors headquarters in California. He was quite impressed with the technological advancements in the company’s autonomous car research. Now, vehicles with no need for a driver will travel Down Under freely.
Google Self-Driving car spotted on the road 1 photo
Photo: Search Engine Roundtable
Don’t be that surprised, after all Australia stands for more than pranksters driving coolers on the main road, koala bears holding the wheel of a Land Rover Defender and Travers Beynon acting all Bilzerian. As a matter of fact, one of the first countries to join the green movement, buying a Tesla Roadster in 2010, was a kind tech brainiac from these parts.

Sure, when you say self-driving cars, you rather think of Google’s cute bubble-shaped machines on four wheels. Nevertheless, according to The Lead South Australia, there are no preferences. The only point the Southern Hemisphere country wants everybody to know is that they are open for business.

Therefore, this week, the State Government will introduce a bill that allows for trials of driverless cars on open public roads. The mad autos have been going wild already - since November 2014 - when a trial was set for Adelaide’s Southern Expressway. The thing is, this particular road will be closed, so there was no need for legislative change.

The Bill that will be introduced by Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan this week will allow autonomous vehicles to be trialled on open public roads across South Australia. “This legislation will facilitate public road testing, unlike many other countries that offer only selected roads or small, restricted geographical areas,” Mullighan said.

The companies who are planning to use Aussie roads for their autonomous contraptions have to notice the government at least one month in advance on the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure website.

As we mentioned, the Transport Minister wants to make sure the big players on the market - that includes Tesla Motors - know they are more than willing to offer the country’s support for the emerging industry.
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