Driverless cars are coming to the UK – but the road to autonomy has bumps ahead (www.theguardian.com)

Waymo has announced plans to bring its fully driverless robotaxi service to London in 2026, joining UK government moves to fast‑track rules that could allow regulated public trials as early as spring 2026. The announcement comes after Waymo’s commercial rollout in San Francisco — backed by some 100 million autonomous miles — and follows quieter, more cautious plans from UK players like Wayve and Uber to run Level 4 public‑road trials. The move is significant because it would mark one of the first large‑scale deployments of truly driverless taxis in a dense European city, testing whether systems trained in US and Chinese cities can handle London’s complex, pedestrian‑heavy streets and unique legal context. Technically and politically, major hurdles remain. Waymo will need to complete mapping, build depots/charging and support teams, and likely operate with “human specialists” initially; regulators, insurers and Transport for London still must resolve liability and operational rules, and full legislation may take years. The deployment highlights core tradeoffs: demonstrably lower incident rates per mile in Waymo’s data versus real-world glitches, public backlash and vandalism, regulatory scepticism about jaywalking and mixed traffic, and big labour implications — potential job gains in infrastructure vs. large-scale displacement of taxi, HGV and delivery drivers. Accessibility gains for people with disabilities sit alongside sceptical public opinion, making London a pivotal test of whether driverless taxis can be safe, accepted and scalable in a complex urban environment.