Driverless cars to be tested on UK roads Google has already tested driverless cars - in reality a kitted out Toyota Prius - on 100,000 miles of roads in San Francisco. These cars have been left to drive themselves using cameras, radar and laser sensors. Underpinning the trials is the belief that cars - which already have an array of collision avoidance systems - can be made even safer. In Oxford, scientists have adapted a Nissan Leaf. The robot car is capable of running on a predetermined familiar route, although the driver can reassert control by tapping on the brakes. The trials of the driverless cars and a pledge to pump another £500 million into electric vehicles are the cornerstone of the strategy. Government plans will also see see major roads widened and resurfaced in an attempt to cut traffic noise. Ministers will also unveil plans to protect the spending pledge by introducing legislation to make the six year commitment legally binding on whoever is in power after the next election. The commitment to treble funding for motorways and A roads, which will be contained in a Command Paper published today, represents the biggest investment in the network since the 1970s. They will include the resurrection of proposals to build a tunnel underneath Stonehenge have been put back on the table by the Government. Plans were in place for a 1.3 mile tunnel and bypass were ditched in 2007 after the price tag more than doubled to £470 million. Under the plans announced today a feasibility study will be carried out to see if the project can be resurrected in some form. Other he road widening schemes, which are certain to face opposition from environmental groups, will include adding a lane to the M4 between London and Reading. Our major roads are vital to the prosperity of our nation, connecting people to jobs and businesses to markets. They carry a third of all traffic and two thirds of all freight traffic but in recent decades we have failed to invest properly in them," said Patrick Mcloughlin, the Transport Secretary. That underinvestment has seen us fall behind many of our economic competitors. Since 1990, France has built more motorway miles than exist on our entire network, while Canada, Japan and Australia all spend four times more on their roads than we do.