News & Features
The Emergence of Autonomous Vehicles
Posted in General News on Wednesday, May 22nd, 2024
Autonomous vehicles could be on British roads by 2026, after the government’s Automated Vehicles (AV) Act became law on Monday 20th May 2024. The AV Act enables advanced technology to safely drive vehicles on British roads. The new law puts Great Britain firmly at the forefront of self-driving technology regulation, unlocking the potential of an industry estimated to be worth up to £42 billion and creating 38,000 more skilled jobs by 2035.
Road safety is at the heart of the legislation, with automated vehicles expected to improve road safety by reducing human error, which contributes to 88% of road collisions. The law will require self-driving vehicles to achieve a level of safety at least as high as careful and competent human drivers, as well as meeting rigorous safety checks before being allowed onto roads. Therefore, in the future deaths and injuries from drink driving, speeding, tiredness and inattention could be greatly reduced. Transport Secretary, Mark Harper, said: "Britain stands at the threshold of an automotive revolution and this new law is a milestone moment for our self-driving industry, which has the potential to change the way we travel forever. While this doesn’t take away people’s ability to choose to drive themselves, our landmark legislation means self-driving vehicles can be rolled out on British roads as soon as 2026, in a real boost to both safety and our economy.”
The UK government is prepared to invest 150 million in driverless technology by 2030 because of this Bill. However, according to a survey of 2,078 drivers conducted by Volkswagen Financial Services 3 in 5 drivers believe that their driving skills are better than AI technology. There are also concerns about the reliability of the technology as 39% of the respondents expressed concerns about the technology failing.
When asked about the benefits of fully autonomous driving, more than a quarter (27%) said they believed the technology would take irresponsible drivers off the road, while less than a third (30%) said they saw no real benefits.
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AL
Wednesday, May, 22nd, 2024
Who will be responsible if the vehicle fails or worse, kills? I hope it's not doused in red tape before going live. There should be a person directly responsible. Then see how quickly it's rushed through. Some things should be left out of the equation. AL
Donald Fisher
Wednesday, May, 22nd, 2024
We need to how autonomous cars are going to replace our normal cars.
Trevor Thomas
Wednesday, May, 22nd, 2024
A very large parts of the technology involved is already a part of most cars especially those in higher end models with some companies . Such as front and rear sensors , lane deviation , predictive braking etc they are usually labelled as Driver Assistance , the predictive braking systems growing and out of and braking and relatively. new there also auto wipe and auto lights .I as a disabled driver would welcome an autonomous Driven Car at the standards proposed , as I have the use of 1 eye only and will be disqualified from holding a Driving Licence eventually when the remaining eye falls below the standards set . This would maintain my independent and that of many other in similar circumstances .