Waymo, the US self-driving car company, has announced plans to launch driverless taxis in London by the end of 2026. The company, which already operates approximately 1,500 autonomous vehicles across the US, promises improved safety and efficiency, claiming its cars will not get drunk or distracted. However, as the historian Peter Norton's book Fighting Traffic illustrates, the advent of the car in the US brought both solutions and problems, and London's unique streets pose fresh challenges.
London's road layout predates the car and is more chaotic than US cities. Jaywalking is permitted – a practice the police abandoned trying to enforce in 1966. Zebra crossings are designed for human interaction, not machine readability, and areas like Exhibition Road experiment with 'shared space' that introduces uncertainty for artificial intelligence. These factors could make navigation harder for self-driving vehicles.
Waymo's safety record in the US has been good, with no life-threatening incidents, but the cars have caused disruptions such as impeding emergency services, causing traffic jams, and even running over a beloved cat in San Francisco. The question is how many such mishaps Londoners will tolerate. Additionally, London has successfully reduced car numbers while increasing buses and bicycles; self-driving cars risk pulling people away from active travel and public transport.
Policymakers are proceeding cautiously. Lilian Greenwood, the minister for local transport, has stated that 'government must be in the driving seat,' ensuring cities have a say in regulating the technology. As London becomes a laboratory for this social experiment, expectations for safety, transparency, and equity will be high.
