In This Story
The streets of the United Kingdom could become flooded with self-driving cars as soon as 2026 after new legislation became official this week.
The Automated Vehicles Act (AVA) will require self-driving vehicles to achieve a level of safety “at least” equivalent to competent human drivers. The new law also outlines that drivers will not be held liable for incidents while their cars have autonomous driving modes enabled. Rather, insurance providers, software developers, and automakers are held responsible under the AVA.
“Britain stands at the threshold of an automotive revolution and this new law is a milestone moment for our self-driving industry, which has the potential to change the way we travel forever,” Secretary of State for Transport Mark Harper said in a statement.
According to the British government, the country’s autonomous vehicle industry is projected to create 38,000 skilled jobs and be valued at £42 billion ($53.4 billion) by 2035.
The AVA’s passage was praised by Wayve and Oxa, self-driving carmakers based in London and Oxford, respectively. It was also applauded by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), an automotive industry trade association, and the Transport Research Laboratory, a transportation-focused consultancy.
“This is a watershed moment for UK automotive innovation and road safety in the UK,” SMMT CEO Mike Hawes said in a statement. “Self-driving vehicles will revolutionise our society, and this new law will help turn ambition into reality, putting the UK alongside a handful of other global markets that already have their regulatory frameworks in place.”
However, the U.K.’s self-driving industry is somewhat limited.
Only Ford Motor Co.’s Mustang Mach E has been approved to allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel on certain stretches of roads in England, Wales, and Scotland. In the U.S., auto safety regulators are investigating the automaker’s BlueCruise driver assistance technology following two fatal crashes involving electric Mustangs with the software enabled.
Wayve earlier this month raised $1.05 billion in an investment round led by Japanese investment company SoftBank, Microsoft, and Nvidia. The startup focuses on “embodied AI,” which allows vehicles to interact with and learn from human behavior in real-world environments, and has conducted trials on public roads since 2018.
Wayve co-founder and CEO Alex Kendall said in a statement that secondary legislation will be needed to “reap the full benefits of self-driving vehicles in the U.K.”
Oxa aims to launch its “Oxa Driver” software in eight passenger services across the U.S. and U.K. by the end of the year, with two services already established in Florida. The software has been installed in shuttles operated by Orlando, Florida-based Beep.