The Netherlands is more willing than any other country to accept self-driving cars, but may be the least able to actually do it, a consultant says. The report from KMPG says that the heavy use of bicycles on city streets is the problem.
Part of the problem is not only the volume of bicycles, but how cyclists react to vehicles they’re sharing the road with and how the self-driving cars respond to large numbers of small moving objects. The consultant report suggests that it may be necessary to keep the two kinds of traffic separated.
Meanwhile, the Netherlands is working with Belgium and Germany to prepare for large numbers of driverless trucks over the next few years by creating designated routes in major corridors such as Amsterdam to Antwerp and Rotterdam to Germany’s Ruhr Valley.
