So much of the news is packed with articles saying things like ‘Driverless cars potentially coming to [insert place name]’ or ‘Driverless cars might mean…’ or ‘14 ways driverless cars will impact [insert anything]”.

But what is ACTUALLY HAPPENING? Here are 16 things that happened in the world of driverless cars this month.

1. Apple driverless car project killed by lack of direction: 5 employees told the New York Times. While they’ve stopped developing the actual car, they will continue to develop autonomous car technology.
2. Tesla’s new Model 3 was revealed, and it has a driver-facing camera. This ‘sleeperware’ is not actually used in the current model, but is present so that, as updates are rolled out, it can be switched on and used.
3. India has announced it will ban driverless cars to protect jobs.
4. Germany has created the world’s first ethical guidelines for driverless cars. This includes prioritising human safety over protecting animals or property, and always allowing the human driver to supercede the program’s decisions.
5. Ford was granted a patent for a car with a fully removable steering wheel and foot pedals.
6. Ford – who have an ongoing partnership with Amazon’s Alexa – have also patented an “autonomous vehicle entertainment system” which could cover the windscreen with a projector screen.
7. It was discovered that graffiti on road signs could render them unreadable to driverless technology. Driverless cars in the test misread altered instructions 73% of the time.
8. Uber began testing a pair of self-driving cars on Toronto’s streets – albeit with human drivers.
9. Driverless car testing will begin on Australian roads in Tullamarine, Victoria. Again, with human drivers.
10. It was announced that trials of driverless lorries will begin in the UK next year. ‘Convoying’ uses a human-driven first lorry to lead other driverless lorries behind it, in convoy.
11. Fiat Chrysler will work with BMW and Intel to develop driverless cars.
12. The US government’s self-driving car council has fallen apart under President Trump: Resignations, unfilled seats and inactivity of the driverless-car technology committee.
13. Continental Tyres sponsored a survey of 2,000 motorists that revealed most people don’t see any benefits of driverless cars. 44% of motorists said they were ‘scared of autonomous vehicles due to the loss of personal control’. Continental Tyres’ Mark Griffiths said:“The message from motorists is clear – talk less about ‘tomorrow’s world’ and more about real world benefits.”
14. Formula Student Germany hosted the first race that included driverless cars in Hockenheimring, Germany.   
15. Driverless wheelchairs have debuted in a Singapore hospital and a Japanese airport. These SMART vehicles join the ranks of golf carts and electric taxis made by the company.
16. Ohio is readying a ‘driverless highway’ for companies to test driverless car technology. The state is lining 35 miles of road with fiber-optic cables that will communicate traffic conditions, accidents and weather changes to driverless cars over a wifi network. The highway’s internet will be up by the end of September.