We live in a futuristic country, it’s only natural we have futuristic cars…

While they’re definitely getting better, some parts of UAE cities aren’t very walkable, and so we do find ourselves sat behind a wheel a lot of the time.

Driving can be boring, and so as much as we’d like to autopilot ourselves around town with minimal effort, there are always a couple of idiots out on the roads to shock you back to attention.

Well, that could soon be about to change.

Mercedes-Benz have successfully completed a trip from Dubai to Abu Dhabi using a self-driving car, despite some of the at times erratic driving on the stretch between the two cities.

The driver didn’t need to steer, accelerate or brake throughout the entire trip. However, he was required to use the indicator when he wanted the car to change lanes.

self driving car dubai

Dr. Andreas Wedel, from Daimler’s R&D for remote services department was the one to test the car.

To change lanes, the indicator is flicked on and the car then looks for a safe space in which to merge.

Here’s the video of the Dubai to Abu Dhabi trip in the self-driving car:

The announcement was made at the International Conference on Future Mobility in Dubai on Monday.

More…
*New Dubai taxi drivers will have to pass an English test*
*Self-driving taxis could soon be a thing in Dubai*
*See the weird, wonderful – and expensive – things left in taxis*

“The traffic situation itself for this car is not a problem, but while this road is very straight, it’s a very complex road,” Mercedes-Benz Middle East CEO and President Mark de Haes told 7Days.

“You have a lot of speeding and aggressive driving, but as long as the car sees the cars next to it, it has no problem to keep in the lane. It’s always concentrated on the lanes, on the lines on the ground, and it’s concentrated on the car in front and the cars to the side.

“There were situations where it had to move lane from left to right, just by moving the indicator the car itself goes to the left, depending on the traffic.”

De Haes finished by saying, “This test drive constitutes a major step towards our vision of autonomous driving. We have been working tirelessly to achieve this milestone.”

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