Last year the British government set out to establish whether or not any changes to the rules of the road were needed in order to legally test driverless cars on Britain’s public roads. The Department of Transport released its findings yesterday, and it’s officially legal. The government is getting the ball rolling by funding several multimillion pound trials involving a range of autonomous vehicles.

“Driverless vehicle technology has the potential to be a real game changer on the UK’s roads, altering the face of motoring in the most fundamental of ways and delivering major benefits for road safety, social inclusion, emissions and congestion,” said Transport Minister Claire Perry in the report.

Although there are no laws against publicly testing autonomous vehicles, the report does stipulate a few guidelines, namely that a driver must be present to take responsibility if needed, and that the vehicle complies with road traffic laws.

A code of practice is in the works to be published by spring and according to the report it will “be quicker to establish, more flexible and less onerous for those wishing to engage in testing than the regulatory approach being followed in other countries, notably in the U.S.”

At an event held in Greenwich in southeast London, Perry announced the launch several trials involving semi-autonomous vehicles.

The government has committed £19 million ($28.9 million) to the project.

The Lutz Pathfinder Pod, pictured above, will be trialed in Milton Keynes in central England. The battery-driven pod will run on a designated route along the pavement and has a range of 40 miles at a speed of 15 miles per hour.

In the southwest city of Bristol, a driverless modified military jeep, the Wildcat (pictured above), manufactured by BAE Systems, will be tested.

An autonomous shuttle, aptly named Meridian, will give inhabitants of Greenwich a taste of driverless vehicles.

Looking ahead, the government is committed to passing legislation that will allow for wider deployments of autonomous vehicle technology by mid-2017. One of the several factors to be considered is liability for accidents. The U.K. intends to push for new international regulations by the end of 2018.

“Driverless cars are the future. I want Britain to be at the forefront of this exciting new development, to embrace a technology that could transform our roads and open up a brand new route for global investment,” wrote Perry.

Image credits: Lutz Pathfinder Pod via Catapult; Wildcat via BAE Systems