As a London taxi driver on the front line of the impact of driverless cars, I found Jackie Ashley’s article (Driverless cars should be a major political issue, 2 January) long overdue. Many of the questions she raises are worrying.
The idea that faceless corporations such as Uber are developing this technology to give it away for the greater good of mankind and the environment is questionable. Once these non-national monopolies take control, they will have the power to set the price for the job, and my bet is it will not be as cheap as Jackie predicts. Just check out the companies and individuals who have bought shares in these tech platforms, there’s hardly an idealist among them.
Volkswagen and Ford are not investing in joint ventures with Uber etc to sell fewer cars. They are in the game to increase production.
As for driverless cars increasing the safety of vulnerable members of the travelling public, this is unproven – a car’s computer could be hacked, causing safety issues. If there is an accident, who will be legally to blame? If Uber doesn’t pay its taxes in the UK, would it be bound by UK law in a road traffic accident caused by an algorithm emanating anywhere on the planet?
I am sure most London cab drivers would be willing to discuss this further with Jackie for the cost of a metered and regulated cab fare from York Way.
Jim Kelly
Chair, Unite London & Eastern Cab Section
• I hope Jimmy Wales (G2, 3 January) and Jackie Ashley are right about the benevolent effects of driverless cars. We will have to ensure that ownership, distribution and use are organised socially rather than by corporate monopolies, which will have no interest in passing on reduced costs; so Wikipedia, not Google. We may also need to take over the manufacturers since they are unlikely to go along with an 80% reduction in production. And we will have to engineer a major shift in social attitudes to ownership if collective benefits are not to be trumped by the premium attached to private convenience and status.
Richard Middleton
Castle Douglas, Scotland
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