Netherlands clears way for tests of self-driving trucks

In Europe, there have been tests of self-driving trucks for some time. In the late 1990s, some manufacturers, including Mercedes-Benz, conducted tests with an ‘electronic tiller’ as part of the EU’s ‘Promote Chauffeur’ research programme. That was the precursor to ‘platooning’. A few years ago, the development gained momentum. The apotheosis was the presentation in summer 2014 of the ‘truck of the future’ by Mercedes-Benz, which drove completely autonomously on a closed stretch of motorway.