Self-driving cars could be on UK roads for the first time later this year, the Department of Transport has announced.
The government has set out how vehicles fitted with Automated Lane Keeping System technology could legally be defined as self-driving, as long as they receive approval, adding there's no evidence to "challenge the vehicle's ability to self-drive".
The vehicles are designed for use on a motorway in slow traffic, up to 37mph an hour, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said on Wednesday.
Self-drive technology enables a vehicle to drive itself in a single lane, while maintaining the ability to easily and safely return control to the drive when required.
It aims to improve road safety by reducing human error, which contributes to more than 85 per cent of accidents.
The driver will be able to hand over control to the vehicle, which will continually monitor speed while maintaining a safe distance from other vehicles.
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said self-driving cars will not be introduced unless they are safer than having drivers behind the wheel.
He told Sky News: “It will be safer than people driving and if it’s not, then we won’t do it.
“This isn’t about the kind of cars that are already available, this isn’t about a self-driving Tesla or something, those would not qualify currently for full self-driving capability. Instead, this is about new technology, new types of car.”
Mr Shapps said that around 85 per cent of the 1,800 road deaths in the UK yearly are due to driver error.
“The deaths come from primarily errors made by human beings, because we’re all human, and I just think if we’re ever going to drive that down lower, we can’t turn our back on technology,” he added.
It is hoped that the technology in cars, buses and delivery vehicles could help end urban congestion as traffic lights and vehicles "speak to each other to keep traffic flowing, reducing emissions and improving air quality in our towns and cities".
Professor Nick Reed told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme with new technology, a driver “might be able to look away from the road ahead for a short period of time, but there might be some monitoring to ensure that period isn’t too extensive”.
Asked if a driver could send a text, he said: “I think you could disengage for a short period of time, but these are the rules that have to be established, and that’s what I think this consultation is about.”
He said it is not yet known if self-driving cars are safer than human drivers.
He added: “We really don’t know that - but that’s what we need to establish.
"I think so many of our collisions have human error as a contributory factor and I think automation can go a long way to reducing the number of collisions that we have on the road.
“But we don’t know yet what that will be and we don’t know what new types of collision might emerge with automation, so we need to get that evidence around how automation can improve safety so we can benefit from those technological advances.”
