Fully autonomous vehicles will be on the roads in the UK by 2026
The UK’s autonomous vehicle legislation becomes law, paving the way for the first driverless cars by 2026. Fully autonomous vehicles could be on UK roads within two years, the government says. Like other countries, the UK has allowed driverless vehicles to be used on public roads for many years, but strict rules apply to companies seeking permission to trial new technologies.
As the autonomous vehicle industry develops, the need for new legal regulations also increases. Britain’s self-proclaimed leading regulations for self-driving cars are now official after the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act received royal assent.
Fully autonomous vehicles could be on UK roads within two years, the government says.
“While this won’t take away people’s ability to choose to drive themselves, our ground-breaking legislation means driverless vehicles could be on Britain’s roads as soon as 2026, providing a real boost to both safety and our economy,” said Transport Secretary Mark Harper. .
The news comes just weeks after UK-based Wayve raised more than $1 billion from high-profile companies like SoftBank, Nvidia and Microsoft to continue developing a self-learning software system for autonomous vehicles.
Like other countries, the UK has allowed driverless vehicles to be used on public roads for many years, but strict rules apply to companies seeking permission to trial new technologies.