UK public uneasy about self-driving vehicles ahead of Waymo launch
Ahead of Waymo’s arrival on British roads, a new report reveals that nearly three-quarters of people in the UK are concerned about the safety of self-driving vehicles.
According to insurer Allianz, across six regions, more than 70 per cent of Brits said they had concerns about this emerging technology, compared to between 64 per cent and 67 per cent across
Almost three-quarters of Brits (74 per cent) said they are specifically worried that automated vehicles may not be safe enough in unpredictable situations.
Earlier this month, Waymo announced its UK launch will start with a small fleet of human-supervised Jaguar I-PACE electric vehicles “in the coming weeks,” before moving to fully autonomous operations by 2026.
Despite the high concerns, the research indicates a “cautious optimism,” with over half of people surveyed in the UK agreeing that automated vehicles would let them do other things during journeys, and 45 per cent believing it would help them be less stressed in traffic.
Morning Wire’s tech reporter, Saskia Koopman, tried a self-driving taxi ahead of its UK debut.
Lawyers told Morning Wire that the rollout of this new tech-focused car on British roads will, for the first time, put the Automated Vehicles Act to the test.
Calls for unified regulatory and data framework
However, Allianz is urging urgent co-operation on regulations and data governance, noting that timely access to vehicle data is a “necessity” for law enforcement and insurers to confidently determine liability in the event of an accident in autonomous mode.
Alexandra Wyard, director of technical underwriting at Allianz UK, explained: The [Automated Vehicles] Act positions the UK as a global leader in automated vehicles regulation. But we need to look quickly at the role of insurers to make sure owners of these vehicles have the support they need to confidently take this next step in the evolution of driving.”
“A lot of drivers remain concerned about what will happen if there is a crash when the car is in autonomous mode.”
“Timely access to data from vehicles is going to be a necessity to help law enforcement and insurers know what happened and who is liable. How this information will be safely shared still remains an outstanding question,” she stated.
Wyard added: “It’s an incredibly exciting time, but the speed required to find answers to these questions must match the pace of the changes we are facing.”