The transport secretary, Mark Harper, believes driverless cars could feature on UK roads within two years.

It means vehicle owners would be able to travel without having to pay attention to where they are going.

King of the road

His comments follow the Government’s plans to legislate for autonomous vehicles in the King’s Speech, last November.

“The legislation is going through parliament at the moment,” Transport secretary Mark Harper told the BBC. “Hopefully we’ll get that through parliament by the end of 2024.

“Probably by as early as 2026 people will start seeing some elements of these cars that have full self-driving capabilities being rolled out.”

Safety first

He stressed that the technology will be rolled out “gradually” and would be up to individuals if they want to use it.

“It has a huge number of potential uses, the obvious one is 88% or so of road traffic collisions we see today are caused by driver error of some description,” he added.

“There is a real potential for this sort of technology to actually improve safety on the roads, not just for drivers, not just for passengers, but for other vulnerable road users – pedestrians, cyclists – to really improve road safety, which is a real win for everybody.”

Already working

Fully automated vehicles have done millions of miles on public roads in the US and China. However, the UK has so far remained cautious about them.

Some models of car come with what is known as driver-assist technology. This can maintain a vehicle’s position in line with surrounding traffic and keep them in the right lane. Nonetheless,  a human driver must have their hands on the wheel and be looking at the road at all times.

Only Ford’s Mustang Mach E can allow UK drivers to take their hands off the wheel on certain stretches of motorway in England, Wales, and Scotland. However, the car maker says drivers must keep their eyes on the road.

Asked by BBC Radio 4 Today programme guest editor James May if an autonomous car driving him from the pub was a fantasy, Ford BlueCruise director Charles Nolan said the technology was “certainly not there now”.

“I think there is a way to go,” he said.

“In my view the technology would need to evolve, the software would need to evolve, and the regulation would need to evolve.”

“And then the final part of it is customer acceptance, and ability to pay would need to evolve.”

Boosting benefits

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says that self-driving technology could help save 3,900 lives and prevent 60,000 serious accidents.

In a SMMT report published in November, the trade body also said it has the potential to deliver a £66 billion boost to the economy by 2040.