We wrote about self-driving vehicle trials back in 2018 (you can find this post here: https://gofers.co.uk/logistics-industry/self-driving-vehicle-trials-2018/), but 5 years on we still aren’t seeing the upturn in driverless vehicles that we may have expected. Whilst there are various reasons for this (COVID-19, cuts to funding, Brexit etc), where does the British Government stand in 2023 on new cars with self-driving capabilities?
A recent Reuters post highlighted the delay in laws that are required to regulate self-driving technolofy, which may lead to a loss in investment in autonomous vehicles (AVs). The government pledged in 2017 that the UK would become a “world leader in shaping the future of mobility” and in 2022 pledged a further £100m to continue backing AV development, so the lack of regulation in this area is a definite problem. There is definitely a large leap of faith needed from using assisted driving technology to full vehicular control, so government delays and lack of transparency is a concern.
That being said, “ghost driver” studies and self-driving vehicle studies are still being planned, with a study being undertaken by Nottingham University this year on how pedestrians interact with driverless cars being one such example (further info on this can be found on Fleet News). A major self-driving car experiment in London has also come to an end this year; ServCity ran for 3 years from 2020-2023 using the “ServCity CAV” to deliver a “Robotaxi” service across the capital. More info on this here can be found on the ServCity website.
Whilst many are understandably cautious about the possibility of sitting in a driverless car, there’s no doubt that this technology is coming, and whilst there have been delays along the way, we will as a nation eventually see more and more AV vehicles on our roads. Is this something you’re keen to see, or will you stick what assisted driving for as long as possible?
