Mercedes-Benz completes autonomous Dubai-Abu Dhabi car journey

German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz has reportedly completed an autonomous car journey between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

A modified version of company’s E-class travelled from Jebel Ali in Southern Dubai to central Abu Dhabi on Friday without the driver touching the steering wheel, breaks or accelerator, according to UAE newspaper 7Days.

Instead the driver’s only job was to operate the indicator when he wanted the car to change lanes.

Mark de Haes, CEO and president of Mercedes-Benz Cars in the Middle East, said the journey was mostly on a straight road but complicated by local driving habits.

“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 the car in front and the cars to the side,” he was quoted as saying.

Modifications to the car’s assistance system, including intelligent cruise control and collision detection, meant it could detect vehicles to the front and side and stay in lane.

The Dubai government is planning to make 25 per cent of transport journeys autonomous by 2030.

The Roads and Transport Authority is currently trialling driverless vehicles in different parts of the city and Dubai-based transport app Careem said last month it would begin testing driverless electric pods next year.

Read: Dubai’s RTA considers autonomous vehicle deployments at metros, malls