Self-driving cars in which drivers don’t have to pay attention could hit the UK’s roads as early as 2026, according to Transport Secretary Mark Harper.
The minister said on Wednesday that “full autonomous mode” driving already exists, and he believes elements of the technology can be rolled out in around three years’ time.
The government has already approved the use of self-driving technology, which still requires drivers’ attention.
Parliament has now begun working on the legal framework that would enable more advanced driverless vehicles.
“Legislation is going through Parliament at the moment, so hopefully we'll get that through Parliament by the end of 2024,” Mr. Harper told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme.
“Probably by as early as 2026, people will start seeing some elements of these cars that have full self-driving capabilities being rolled out.”
The minister said he has seen “the technology being used in California, for example, without a safety driver so in full autonomous mode.”
Pressed on whether he believes drivers in Britain can potentially be “doing your emails or whatever it is” in 2026, the minister said, “Yes, and I think that’s when companies are expecting in 2026, during that year, that we'll start seeing this technology rolled out.”
“It‘ll be gradual, I’m sure. So there’ll be companies rolling it out to be used in certain places, but I think we will start seeing examples actually on the road in the United Kingdom, with this technology being safely deployed in 2026,” he said.
Earlier this year, U.S. states California and Nevada greenlighted Mercedes-Benz’s level 3 tech—the entry level under the SAE system in which the person in the driver seat is no longer the driver.
Asked why driverless cars are desirable, Mr. Harper said he believes there’s a “real potential” for self-driving technology to improve road safety.
“I think it will actually improve road safety,” the minister said. “We already have very good road safety record in Britain, but there are still several thousand people a year killed on our roads. That could be improved.”
He also said it’s an “economic opportunity for Britain” and would give those who are not able to drive more freedom.
The Automated Vehicles Bill, introduced in the House of Lords last month, aims to ensure a high standard of safety for self-driving cars, the threshold being that they must meet an equivalent level to that of a careful and competent human driver.
It also provides for the carmakers to take legal responsibility for how the cars behave, although it distinguishes between self-driving cars that complete an entire journey automatically and those that complete part of a journey, requiring the option of handing back control to a human driver in certain contexts.
Speaking in Parliament last month, transport minister Lord Davies of Gower touted self-driving vehicles as “an unprecedented opportunity to improve the safety and connectivity of our road network” and said the UK “could capture as much as £42 billion of that market by 2035” with its strength in research and innovation.
Labour frontbencher Lord Tunnicliffe welcomed regulation but argued that the bill is “not enough to give the public or industry confidence in the emerging technology.”
He said the bill is “bare-bones regulations” that “allow driverless cars on our roads, set minimum standards and make manufacturers responsible, but it fails properly to prepare for the transition period when some vehicles will be automated and others not.”
