UK passes new law to allow private self-driving cars on roads from 2026

The UK government passed a new law this week that will allow privately owned self-driving cars to be legally on the road from 2026. According to the Institution of Engineering and Technology, for every 10,000 mistakes made by human drivers, a self-driving car is likely to make only one mistake. Figures from 2021 show that human error was a major factor in 88% of traffic accidents. The new law has been described as a "watershed moment for automotive innovation and road safety in the UK", but the premise is that manufacturers need to achieve "a level of safety at least as high as that of a careful and competent human driver".