UK government outlines plan to lead the driverless car race

The UK government knows where it's at: self-driving cars are coming and Cameron and co are determined that the UK will lead the way.

In its National Infrastructure Plan, the government has explained that it will have a plan for how to develop and test autonomous vehicles in the UK by the end of next year.

So it's really more of a plan to come up with a plan, but its heart is in the right place - and so is its money, as there will also be a £10 million fund for a town or city to become the driverless car "testing ground."

Ghost driver

"Driverless cars are innovative technology that will change the way the world's towns and cities look and the way people travel," the plan states.

"They present opportunities for the British automotive industry in the manufacture of the cars and the wider science and engineering sectors in the design of towns."

Its not just love of futuristic driving tech that has got the government's pulse racing; the plan is intended to "demonstrate to the world's car companies that the UK is the right place to develop and test driverless cars."

After all, anything Milton Keynes can do, the rest of the UK can do better. The so-called "new city" is already on record as allowing 20 driverless pod cars on its roads in 2015.

Google is also on the road to launching a driverless car scheme; its driverless project has already trialled trips from Mountain View to Santa Monica and it hopes to have a consumer car ready by 2022.