Professor Siddartha Khastgir on Self-Driving Cars on UK Roads

Reflecting on the UK Government’s plans for fully self-driving vehicles by the end of 2027, Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Safe Autonomy at WMG, The University of Warwick, said:

‘‘The government’s new proposed date of rolling out self-driving vehicles on UK roads is the correct approach to ensure the safety of the technology and the public. Any policy decision, especially for emerging technologies like self-driving vehicles, must be made by gathering and using scientific evidence.

“While we are glad to see that many international self-driving developers would like to deploy their products in the UK, the recent technology recalls in the US and China are a testimony to the fact that we are still learning. More needs to be done before we can introduce the technology on our roads.

“At WMG, we believe safety has two sides: engineering safety and communicating safety. We need global consensus on both aspects, and we are championing this by working with our international partners.’’