Imagine getting into a London taxi. Someone is sitting in the driver’s seat, but the car is driving itself. If the autonomous system gets into difficulty, they must recognise what is happening, decide whether to intervene and, within seconds, potentially take control.
This is no longer hypothetical. Uber and the British autonomous driving company, Wayve, have been granted licences to operate self-driving taxis in London with human safety drivers seated inside, with more than 100,000 people having joined a waiting list for the service. Uber launched its service, with 15 autonomous vehicles, on September 3.
