Self-driving vehicles will not be allowed on UK motorways until at least next year, as the government released funding for research and set out plans for new laws to allow some public transport and delivery vehicles to use the technology.
The Department for Transport today said it wants new legislation to allow for the “safe wider rollout” of self-driving vehicles by 2025 and £34mln of new funding for safety research ahead of the new laws, which could be based on recently proposed reforms.
In April, it had been proposed that self-driving might be allowed on some roads by the end of 2022.
Research could include researching the performance of self-driving cars in poor weather conditions and how they interact with pedestrians, other vehicles, and cyclists, the DfT said.
A consultation was also launched by the government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles into “a ‘safety ambition’ for self-driving vehicles to be as safe as a competent and careful human driver”, with the intention that this would inform standards that vehicles need to meet to be allowed to self-drive on the roads, and so that manufacturers could face sanctions if standards are not met.
Another £20mln of the total £100mln previously promised was also confirmed today to “help kick-start commercial self-driving services” and £6mln for market research and to support commercialisation efforts.
If cars with self-driving features are allowed on motorways in 2023, they will need someone with a valid driving licence behind the wheel, but if self-driving vehicles are permitted on roads by 2025, the department said they would not need anyone onboard with a driving licence as they would be able to drive themselves for the whole journey.
Transport secretary Grant Shapps said self-driving vehicles “have the potential to be huge” and the industry could create an estimated 38,000 jobs in the country, while also are “expected to make roads safer by reducing the dangers of driver error in road collisions”.
“We want the UK to be at the forefront of developing and using this fantastic technology, and that is why we are investing millions in vital research into safety and setting the legislation to ensure we gain the full benefits that this technology promises,” he said.
Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the funding could also help attract further investment to help develop the UK’s self-driving vehicle supply chain.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said with the government “is right to embrace the positive changes offered by this new technology and back it by funding research and putting forward legislation”.
While assisted driving systems such as autonomous emergency braking and adaptive cruise control are already helping improve driver safety, he said it was “still quite a big leap… to self-driving, where the car takes control” and so “important that the government does study how these vehicles would interact with other road users on different roads and changing weather conditions”.
Self-driving market developments
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one of the best-known proponents of self-driving cars, though some fatal crashes have made headlines and other problems have provided a fruitful stream of content on YouTube.
In January a driver of a Tesla using Autopilot was charged with vehicular manslaughter charges in California after their car went through a red light, hitting another car and killing two people.
The UK announcement came as Tesla again slowed down the rollout of its next “full self-driving” software update, which will enables the company's vehicles to drive autonomously to a destination entered in the car’s navigation system, though the driver will need to be ready to take control at all times.
Tesla has chopped and changed how much driving capabilities it gives drivers, last October rolling back full self-driving capabilities on all cars following concerns over safety from those involved in tests.
Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) was planning to spin off its US$50bn Mobileye self-driving business this year but recently delayed the expected IPO due to unwelcoming market conditions.
Elsewhere, Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ:AMZN) snapped up self-driving car start-up Zoox during the pandemic in its foray into the autonomous vehicle sector, while Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO) invested in Oxford-based Oxbotica as part of a collaboration into hardware and software for autonomous vehicles.
The testing process could see demand for Seeing Machines Ltd (AIM:SEE, OTC:SEEMF) technology, which helps mitigate the risk by supporting the human back-up driver.