A Pathfinder Pod, a driverless car made by U.K. Autodrive, in London, England, February 11, 2015. Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The U.K. is positioning itself to be the leading global testing ground for the lucrative future market of driverless vehicles. Between June 15 and 30, Apple will be sending a fleet of cars across the U.K. (and Ireland) to photograph streets for its Maps application. This could be a precursor to testing driverless cars there, similar to rumors regarding the camera-equipped minivans leased to Apple that were spotted on California streets in February. (The vehicles were also fitted out with what appeared to be LiDar sensors, which play a key part in enabling Google’s driverless cars to navigate roads.)
The British government has earmarked $61 million for trials in testing new rules for various types of driverless cars. Already, the trials have won the backing of companies including Ford, Tata Motors, and Williams, the Formula One racing team. Later the U.K. hopes it will have an industry ready to build components for these vehicles, when they become widely available. According to auto manufacturers Volvo, Tesla, and Mercedes, the first autonomous vehicles will be on British roads as early as 2018-2020. Another $155 million in government funding is expected to be released for future driverless vehicle R&D, and the government has promised a full review of current legislation by the summer of 2017.
Already U.K. lawmakers have begun rewriting outdated legislation hindering some paths of development of autonomous vehicles. For example, the Highway Act of 1835, which restricts roadway driving of “horse, arse, sheep, mule, swine or cattle,” is also used to stop cyclists riding on the pavement and drivers mounting the curb while parking. It will need to be changed, however, in order for the government’s plan (announced in February) to test two-seater autonomous “pods” traveling along the pavement in southeast England.
Three of these pods will drive themselves on the pavements and pedestrian-heavy areas of Milton Keynes later this year. The project, in which Ford and Jaguar Land Rover are teaming up with the U.K. government, will then test 40 pods for six months in late 2017. These vehicles will be able to talk to each other, and people will be able to hail them through a smartphone app.
Additionally, the city of Greenwich’s Gateway scheme, led by the Transport Research Laboratory consultancy in collaboration with General Motors and two driving associations, plans to carry out tests of automated passenger shuttle vehicles as well as autonomous valet parking for adapted cars.
Besides convenience and efficiency, driverless cars will provide substantial safety and cost benefits for Britons. According to predictions by the British Insurance Brokers’ Association, 90% of cars owned in Britain will be fitted with some sort of “smart” technology within five years, with accident numbers falling sharply as a result. And John Leech, head of the consultancy KPMG’s U.K. automotive sector, said: “Insurance premiums could halve once vehicles which communicate with each other and an ‘autopilot mode’ when driving on the motorway are developed; this is likely to happen by approximately 2020.”
By revising its rules to facilitate the growth of driverless cars, the U.K. is trying to preempt the many European countries that still prohibit testing such vehicles on public roads. But the tide is turning in Europe, so expect more countries to follow the U.K.’s example.
