WionDrive News Desk 
The United Kingdom’s transport minister Mark Harper has said that self-driving cars could be on some British roads by 2026. Though cars with full self-driving technology are not currently permitted on Britain’s roads, he said that the government’s Automated Vehicles (AV) legislation is going through parliament. Once a legal framework for such cars is in place, likely by the end of 2024, they would be on roads.
Harper was talking to BBC Radio, when he expressed his optimism on having autonomous cars on British roads. “Probably by as early as 2026 people will start seeing some elements of these cars that have full self-driving capabilities being rolled out. It’ll be gradual…so there’ll be companies rolling it out to be used in certain places.”
Harper believes that the technology has the potential to improve road safety. “Everything I’ve seen about automated vehicles and self driving technologies, it’s very focused on keeping people safe,” he said. Under the legislation announced in November, Britain plans for the makers rather than the owners of self-driving cars to be legally liable for any crashes, and the government has said the bill will protect users and promote safety in the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry.
However, the technology has been under scrutiny in the United States after General Motors’ robotaxi unit Cruise got involved in an accident in October. Critics of the technology say that the vehicles can cause crashes, and in California, regulators have ordered Cruise to remove its vehicles from state roads. This comes after a Cruise robotaxi dragged a pedestrian 20 feet after being struck by another vehicle. The company has started reviewing its robotaxis’ handling of interactions with regulators and first responders as part of a pair of external reviews.
