Transport Minister Jesse Norman has told MP’s that the UK will need to weather a storm of scare stories and moral panic when the first self-driving vehicles are legalised.
According to The Times:
Fully autonomous vehicles are banned on UK roads, although legislation to approve the technology could be introduced as early as 2025.
Asked by the transport select committee about the safety of self-driving vehicles, Norman said: “The horrendous thing about this is that we can be rationally certain there are going to be some scare stories, particularly in the early stages, because of the diversity of human life.
“It’s a really interesting question of consent and democratic engagement as to whether or not we as a policy, as a country, are able to weather that moral panic in the pursuit of a future which might lead to an enormously larger number of people not dying.”
He said that the safety record of self-driving vehicles would be “intensely publicly scrutinised”, adding: “As people understand the difference between assisted and self-driving [systems], we ought to be able to create a public environment in which there’s acceptance and understanding of that situation, but we can’t bank on it.”
Last month the UK became the first country in Europe to approve a hands-free driving car for use on motorways.
Ford was granted permission by the Department for Transport to launch its BlueCruise system, which allows “hands-off, eyes-on driving” on the 2,300-mile motorway network in England, Scotland and Wales.
The system is able to monitor road markings, speed signs and traffic conditions and control the vehicle’s steering, acceleration and lane positioning.
It allows the car to maintain a safe distance from the vehicles ahead and automatically slows the vehicle in traffic. It is able to come to a complete halt in a traffic jam.
The system is classed as an advanced driver-assistance system and is graded as “level two” automation, according to the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Under its scale there are six levels of automation, from zero (fully manual) to five (fully autonomous).
The next generation of automation, level three, will enable cars to carry out most tasks, although human override is still required.
In level four the car will perform all driving tasks in a geofenced area, with human override an option. At level five, no human attention or interaction is required, potentially letting motorists sleep on journeys.
Paul Howell, the Conservative MP for Sedgefield, compared the situation to smart motorways, where public opinion “kicked back hard” as people did not “perceive them as being safe” despite data suggesting otherwise.
