Self-driving cars become a reality in the UK
The UK will have self-driving cars that free drivers from having to focus on the road by 2026, according to Transport Secretary Mark Harper .
The technology has a wide range of potential uses, including improving road safety and facilitating independent travel for people with disabilities, the minister said at the cabinet meeting.
Last month, a draft law on motor vehicles was submitted to Parliament, in order to establish a set of laws regulating the use of self-driving cars.
“The legislation is now going through Parliament, so we hope to get it through Parliament by the end of 2024, and potentially by 2026 people will start to see some elements of these fully autonomous vehicles,” Harper said.
“You can see the technology being rolled out with a safety driver, and I’ve seen the technology being used in California without a safety driver, in full self-driving mode, and that technology is there, and we’re putting the right legislation in place so that people have full confidence in the safety of that technology, which I think is an important thing that we need to do,” he added.
Harper explained that companies expect self-driving car technology to become widespread among people in 2026, allowing people to travel in self-driving vehicles without having to handle the steering wheel.
Harper said there were several reasons why the government was supporting the development of autonomous driving, including improving road safety. “We have a good record on road safety in Britain, but there are still thousands of people dying on our roads every year, and this technology could improve that,” he said.
The Transport Secretary sees government support for self-driving cars as a huge economic opportunity for Britain to capture a significant global market share.”
He also pointed out that there are many people who do not currently have the opportunity to have the freedom that many drivers take for granted, as there are people with disabilities, and people with learning difficulties, who do not enjoy the same freedom that driving provides to many other drivers.
According to the Minister of Transport, self-driving cars could open up a new world of personal freedom, access to work, and not having to depend on other people.