Self-driving cars could be on UK roads by 2026 - Minister

hl.co.uk:

We don’t support this browser anymore.
This means our website may not look and work as you would expect. Read more about browsers and how to update them here.

Newsroom

Newsroom articles are published by leading news agencies. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for an article's content and its accuracy. We may not share the views of the author.

HL Podcast

HL Insight

Self-driving cars could be on some British roads by 2026, the country's transport minister Mark Harper said on Wednesday.

Article originally published by Reuters. Hargreaves Lansdown is not responsible for its content or accuracy and may not share the author's views. News and research are not personal recommendations to deal. All investments can fall in value so you could get back less than you invest.

Published by

27 Dec 2023

Cars with full self-driving technology are not currently permitted on Britain's roads but the government's Automated Vehicles (AV) legislation is going through parliament, meaning that a legal framework for them should be in place by the end of 2024, said Harper.

«Probably by as early as 2026 people will start seeing some elements of these cars that have full self-driving capabilities being rolled out,» Harper told BBC Radio.

«It'll be gradual...so there'll be companies rolling it out to be used in certain places.»

Critics of the technology, which has been trialled in the United States, say that the vehicles can cause crashes, and in California, regulators ordered General Motors' driverless car unit Cruise to remove its vehicles from state roads after an accident in October.

Britain's Harper said that the technology had the potential to improve road safety.

«Everything I've seen about automated vehicles and self driving