Nevada approves autonomous Daimler trucks

Germany's Daimler unveiled the first self-driving truck to be licensed for commercial use on Tuesday, citing a deal with Nevada's governor as the first step towards its goal of transforming the safety and efficiency of freight transport.

Daimler said it had brought the new self-driving technology to the desert, southwestern state after European governments were slower to approve regulations for autonomous trucks. Nevada was also one of the first states to allow autonomous passenger cars.

However, the company said it would require far more states to accept the technology before it could show its potential by handling road freight deliveries "from coast to coast". The vehicle will be able to operate autonomously only in Nevada - when it crosses state lines the driver will have to take the wheel.

Wolfgang Bernhard, chief executive of Daimler's bus and truck division, said autonomous driving would sharply reduce crashes from driver error. Driver error - often a result of fatigue or distraction - leads to around 90 per cent of crashes involving trucks.

"Today we show you the first truck with autonomous vehicle licence plates on roads anywhere in the world ever," Mr Bernhard said at an event at the Las Vegas Speedway, on the outskirts of Las Vegas.

The new truck will still have a driver, who will take over operations in circumstances that the autonomous driving system deems too complicated to handle safely on its own. These are likely to include moves into and out of distribution centres and navigating busy urban streets.

However, the autonomous system is expected to handle the long-haul highway driving that is currently the main cause of driver fatigue. The vehicle has already undergone tens of thousands of hours of testing on Nevada's roads and will be immediately available for full commercial use, although Daimler will continue to monitor its performance.

"This is not a testing licence," Mr Bernhard said. "This is a full operating licence. We believe that these vehicles and systems are ready."

Brian Sandoval, Nevada's governor, said the innovation would have a lasting impact on the state.

"I'm proud - very proud - and I speak for everybody in the great state of Nevada - that we stand with you today at this location to make history," he told senior Daimler executives, adding that he had "100 per cent confidence" in the German group.

Daimler's move in Nevada illustrates the company's confidence in its autonomous driving technology, in which it faces competition from new entrants including Google, the technology company that has focused on passenger cars.

Politicians and regulators tend to treat crashes resulting from vehicle faults far more harshly than they do the vast majority that currently result from driver error.

Martin Daum, chief executive of Daimler Trucks North America, said its system must be "significantly safer than any human being".

He added: "The question is how much ultimately we accept that mistakes done by machines are as acceptable as today mistakes done by human beings."

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