Self-driving vehicles will be on the road in less than three years, according to the Transport Secretary, with the industry potentially bringing £42billion to the UK economy.
Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said self-driving technology could boost road safety and make it easier for vulnerable people to travel independently.
King Charles set out the Government’s plan to speed up the rollout of self-driving vehicles during the State Opening of Parliament in November.
The King announced that the Government would introduce “new legal frameworks” to support the safe commercial development of emerging technologies, mentioning self-driving vehicles specifically.
The Automated Vehicles Bill is expected to be passed through Parliament by the end of next year
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The Automated Vehicles Bill aims to enable the deployment of self-driving vehicles across the UK, with forecasts suggesting it could create 38,000 skilled jobs and help the market be worth £41.7billion by 2035.
The Government has suggested that the UK “can either lead the way or follow the leaders”, with Mark Harper being one of the most vocal backers of the technology.
The MP for the Forest of Dean told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the legislation is currently going through Parliament and would be passed “by the end of 2024”.
He added: “Probably by as early as 2026, people will start seeing some elements of these cars that have full self-driving capabilities being rolled out.
“We already know the technology works. You can see the technology being rolled out with a safety driver in place.
“This technology exists, it works and what we’re doing is putting in place the proper legislation so that people can have full confidence in the safety of this technology, which I think is one of the important things we’ve got to do.”
Mark Harper has trialled self-driving technology around the UK, being seen with Wayve CEO Alex Kendall travelling around London with a car that allows the driver to take their hands off the wheel.
Wayve, a British artificial intelligence startup that has raised more than £204million in funding, transported the Transport Secretary from the Department for Transport headquarters to the Houses of Parliament.
Harper has praised the UK for offering companies the chance to be at the forefront of the industry, with the Government aiming to capture 6.4 per cent of the total £650billion global market by 2035.
He also confirmed that people in self-driving vehicles would be able to take their hands off the wheel and “do their emails” by 2026, adding that companies are expecting such things from the technology.
Former Top Gear presenter James May, who was the guest editor on the Today programme, asked why the Government was looking at developing such technologies.
Mark Harper said: “I think it will actually improve road safety. We already have a very good road safety record in Britain but there are still several thousand people a year killed on our roads. That could be improved.”
In 2022, there were 1,695 road casualties and in 2021, 88 per cent of all recorded collisions on roads in Great Britain involved human error as a contributing factor.
Research from the Institute for Engineering and Technology suggests that for every 10,000 errors made by drivers, a self-driving vehicle will make just one.
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Mark Harper in a self-driving Wayve car earlier this year
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Major car brand Ford was given the green light in April with its revolutionary BlueCruise technology being granted the ability to use the feature on certain motorways around Great Britain.
Owners of the Ford Mustang Mach-E electric vehicle will be able to use the “hands-off, eyes-on” technology on pre-mapped motorways with a maximum speed of 80mph.
The system monitors road markings, speed limit signs and evolving traffic conditions to control steering, acceleration, braking and lane positioning.