The Government has unveiled plans that could see self-driving cars in widespread use on British roads by as soon as 2025.
Some vehicles with self-driving features could even be on UK motorways by next year, with proposed legislation looking to enable the wider rollout two years later.
The new laws will expand on existing legislation, setting out that manufacturers are responsible for the vehicle’s actions when it is operating in autonomous mode.
This means that a human driver will not be liable for any accidents or other incidents that take place while the vehicle itself is in control.
A consultation will help set out a ‘safety ambition’ that aims to make self-driving cars as safe and competent as those driven by a careful human driver.
This would then be used to create standards that autonomous vehicles must meet in order to self-drive, with manufacturers and other relevant organisations being responsible for meeting those standards.
The Government said that vehicles that can drive themselves on motorways could be available for sale by next year.
Users would still need a driving licence so that they can use them on other roads, where a human driver would still be required.
Fully autonomous vehicles, such as public transport and delivery vehicles, would drive themselves for the whole journey and would not need a person with a driving licence on board.
Self-driving sector could be worth £42bn
The Government said that the self-driving industry could create up to 38,000 jobs and give the economy a boost worth an estimated £42bn.
The plans are backed by £100m in funding, including £20m that is intended to help kick-start new businesses and services, such as shuttle pods taking passengers across airports or driverless grocery deliveries.
This follows £40m that already existed in this area.
More than a third of the total (£34m) will fund research into safety developments, which will also help to fill in the details of the new legislation.
This research could include studying how the self-driving vehicles interact with other road users and pedestrians, as well as how they perform in poor weather.
A further £6m will be allocated to market research and to support commercialisation of the new developments.
The Government said that self-driving vehicles represented a “transport revolution” that would improve road safety and help connect communities.
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