Revised UN Road Rules Could See Self-Driving Cars In Showrooms Sooner

The autonomously driven future may arrive sooner than expected, following a small but significant change to the United Nations Convention on Road Traffic, followed by 72 countries.

Article 8 of the 1968 Convention on Road Traffic previously said "every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle or to guide his animals".

The new rule says that drivers of fully- or highly-autonomous cars would be permitted to remove their hands from the steering wheel, provided the system "can be overridden or switched off by the driver."