UK ready for driverless cars in theory
The Modern Transport Bill confirms actions that are being taken to make sure the UK is at the forefront of the most modern transport revolution. The economic potential of the new technology drives the UK to adopt a new legal system and draw up laws to provide a strong support for autonomous car development and their future adoption. The UK has already a headstart on other EU countries which ratified the Vienna Convention which contains a condition that “every driver shall at all times be able to control his vehicle”.1 Moreover, the government already takes into account issues such as an insurance liability and sets 2 major insurance plans – when the car is driving itself and times when a human is in control of the car. What’s more, driverless car trials are already taking place in the UK – in Bristol, Coventry, Milton Keynes and Greenwich – with vehicles to be tested on motorways and A-roads in the UK from 2017. The trials are funded by the Government’s £100m Intelligent Mobility Fund and an additional £20m has been awarded to other projects for research and development.2 Henceforth, it is obvious the UK is becoming one of the world leaders in testing driverless technology,
“Automated vehicles have the potential to transform our roads in the future and make them even safer and easier to use, as well as promising new mobility for those who cannot drive,” said Transport Secretary Chris Grayling
It is great to see the UK provides a strong support for autonomous car development, their future adoption as well as user insurances. However, the technology is not yet perfect and driverless cars are still a few years away. While the government’s enthusiasm for the new self-driving technology is clear, there are not confirmed information yet that a driverless car technology will reduce the amount of car on the roads. Even if this is a case, certainly it will not change a town planning and road infrastructures of major UK cities which are very often insufficient. In past years, there was a significant under-spend in their development and when the coalition government came to power in 2010, the UK was even one of the lowest spenders on infrastructure in Europe. Thus, it surely creates a public concern that the government is forgetting about thousands of drivers, bike riders and pedestrians who are having daily problems on the roads.
Lately, the survey in London shows that over 2/3 of people driving in the UK capital feel their local roads are busy and congested and a similar number have not seen any improvements recently in congestion. Driving in London has become a nightmare for any drivers mainly around parts as Piccadilly Circus which has been redone many times. In major junctions, it is hard to find any alternative routes. Public transportation also becomes a pain when buses turn up late or they decide to terminate before a final stop or simply cancel the journey. What more bike riders and pedestrians are at the bottom of the pecking order. Unfortunately, any major and more long-term partial solution such as local high street areas should be redeveloped to become alternative venues for shoppers and tourism was ignored by the London Mayor.
Hence, it looks all the effort and more importantly investments are for the benefit of the next generation but not for the one on the roads today. Having said that, a lack of attention to improve a current road infrastructure may significantly hamper a smoothness of driverless car transportation and safety on the roads. Finally, while the advancement in autonomous technology aims to pave the way for a better transportation system, the readiness of the current road infrastructure in the UK is called into questions.
1 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZQiVCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA84&lpg=PA84&dq=the+Vienna+Convention,+which+requires+that+%E2%80%9Cevery+driver+shall+at+all+times+be+able+to+control+his+vehicle%E2%80%9D.&source=bl&ots=3VXzh06paj&sig=_wAdBC4lXn6SNEfxVlv1cGYpCa4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1-_r94v3UAhVSxmMKHc4hC0QQ6AEIRTAF#v=onepage&q=the%20Vienna%20Convention%2C%20which%20requires%20that%20%E2%80%9Cevery%20driver%20shall%20at%20all%20times%20be%20able%20to%20control%20his%20vehicle%E2%80%9D.&f=false
2 https://www.clydeco.com/insight/article/the-modern-transport-bill
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11 comments on “UK ready for driverless cars in theory”
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She also worked as a project associate in European Strategy Council, working primarily on the Innovation and Cybersecurity Forum.
Michaela holds a master degree in International Relations & International Law from the University of Roehampton in London, Certificate in Technology progress from EUIC and Diploma of International Affairs and Politics from the University of Coast Opal.
Michaela also lead a research project on the ICT technology with Crucible Research Center.
Very interesting update about the legislation regarding driverless cars in the UK! Driverless cars are often part of the development of mobility services. In Finland there is also development in this area, there is a project called SOHJOA where Nokia is also active (see http://sohjoa.fi/). In addition the Finnish government is actively pursuing what they call Mobility as a Service. This is e.g. financed by the Finnish Innovation Agency Tekes (https://www.tekes.fi/en/programmes-and-services/tekes-programmes/mobility-as-a-service/). Do you have any information about how mobility services and autonomous vehicles are developed in parallel in the UK?
Many thanks Ghita for your comment.
As mentioned, the UK strives to be one of the world leaders when comes to autonomous transportation. Hence, it is planned to invest more than £28 billion into this sector in upcoming years. Many tests of autonomous cars are conducted by large manufacturers f.e Volvo and Nissan which are planning a testing in London during the whole year 2017. Then again, a lot of development is happening around Milton Keynes and Greenwich that are known as tech grids for a lot of start-ups and smaller companies.
Hey!
First off, this was a very well written blog post! Secondly, to raise a discussion, do you think that even though all these provisions have been made in the modern transport bill, the roads and entire system needs to be changed in order for driver less cars to actually be “drive-able” on the streets?
In my personal opinion, I feel that our streets are currently not equipped enough for driver less cars to drive around freely without any incidents. Even thought this first step is very promising it might be years before things actually fall into place and driver less cars become the next big thing.
Thank you Saran for this.
I tackled the road infrastructure as the whole thing. However, we could dig deeper into this issue. As you are saying, roads are very often poorly equipped with clear signs what accordingly causes harder navigation and accurate anticipation where others will drive. Hence, it definitely reduces a predictability for autonomous cars.
Hey Saran!
You said that “our streets are currently not equipped enough for driver less cars”. What kind of “street equipment” do autonomous cars require? It’s my understanding that they don’t require more than humans.
A really interesting read, especially since I have spent my entire life in London (which you highlighted). From personal experience, Londoners very rarely follow the official driving rules. Instead, we follow unwritten rules when driving in the city. Have you considered how a self driving car would cope with this? Since the London driving style is always changing and evolving, there is a big potential issue around safety.
Jaykishen,
https://www.ft.com/content/36933cfc-620c-11e7-91a7-502f7ee26895
I found this interesting article in the Financial times this morning. To summarize, It says that the amount of manual labour that goes into labeling objects for autonomous vehicles is largely downplayed. The author goes on to say that large teams of computer scientists will continue having to work on labeling “because the outdoor environment is so dynamic.”
I can’t even imagine the large armies of computer scientists and psychologists necessary to label each and every londoner.. The algorithm that can teach the irrational road rage of a londoner to a machine – i can only imagine – is a ways out.
Thanks for sharing this Christian!
Agree Jaykishen. Same experience on my side.
Also, I have to say when considering other capitals London isn’t the worst but the if the government wants to make a real difference, it should start with what matters now for all taxpayers.
Hi Michaela!
You state that even if autonomous cars will reduce the amount of cars on the road, “it will not change a town planning and road infrastructures of major UK cities which are very often insufficient.” What do you mean by this?
I think that autonomous vehicles will go hand in hand with the shared mobility or “mobility as a service” trends, and if this is the case, there will arguably be fewer cars on the streets. Hence, there will be a reduced need for infrastructure such as parking. It seems that many city planning initiatives fail to take this long(er) term scenarios into consideration. There is, for instance, no need for a city to expand the number of parking lots or redesign road infrastructure, if, say within 10 years, these will become obsolete.
Hey Kasper.
It is often claimed autonomous cars will solve some problems of the current transportation such as traffic jams etc. However, current problems are not purely connected to a large volume of cars on roads today. Moreover, the development of autonomous travel will definitely change the collective demand for a transportation infrastructure. Perhaps we have not considered enough the potential ramifications on current transportation plans and infrastructure. Hence, self-driving cars aren’t going to require the types of roads and traffic patterns that we’re accustomed to now.