If you live in London, you can already ride in a self-driving car, sort of. Since 3 September 2026, anyone booking an UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort in the capital can be matched with an electric Ford Mustang Mach-E driven by Wayve's AI software, at no extra cost. The catch: a licensed private hire driver still sits behind the wheel, ready to take over. A truly driverless ride isn't yet available anywhere in Britain. Here is where the law stands as of October 2026, and what has to happen before the safety driver gets out.

What the Automated Vehicles Act does

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 sets the legal framework for self-driving vehicles in England, Wales and Scotland. It largely follows recommendations from the Law Commissions of England and Wales and of Scotland, and its central idea is a bright line between a car that helps you drive and a car that drives itself.

A vehicle only counts as self-driving once the government has authorised it, after it has shown it can drive itself safely and legally without a human monitoring the road. The Act says the safety principles used to judge this must aim for authorised vehicles to be at least as safe as careful and competent human drivers, and for Britain's roads to be safer overall because they are there. A draft statement of those principles went out to public consultation in June 2026, and Parliament must approve it before it takes effect.

The Act also polices marketing: regulations can reserve terms such as "self-driving" for authorised vehicles, so selling ordinary driver assistance as self-driving could be an offence.

Who is liable if a self-driving car crashes?

This is the Act's biggest change. Every authorised vehicle must have an "authorised self-driving entity", typically the manufacturer or software developer, which is responsible for the way the vehicle drives. While an authorised self-driving feature is engaged, the person in the driving seat becomes a "user-in-charge" and cannot be prosecuted for offences arising from how the car is driven, such as speeding or jumping a red light.

That immunity has limits. It doesn't cover what happens after the car has issued a "transition demand" asking the person to take back control, and the user-in-charge is still treated as the driver for duties that have nothing to do with how the car is being driven. For vehicles with no user-in-charge at all, such as a robotaxi with an empty driving seat, the Act creates a separate licensing regime for the operators that oversee them.

What about insurance?

Victims shouldn't need to work out whose code was at fault. Under the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018, which the 2024 Act builds on, if an insured automated vehicle causes an accident while driving itself, the insurer is liable for the damage. It doesn't have to pay the person in charge if the accident was wholly down to their negligence in letting the car drive itself when that wasn't appropriate. Once a claim is settled, the insurer can pursue anyone else who is liable, which could include the manufacturer.

What is legal on UK roads today

Many new cars can steer, brake and keep their distance on the motorway, but legally that is driver assistance and you remain the driver. The most advanced example is Ford's BlueCruise, approved in April 2023 as the first hands-off system of its kind in Europe. On pre-mapped motorway "Blue Zones" drivers of eligible models can take their hands off the wheel, but a camera checks that their eyes stay on the road, and Ford says safe driving remains the driver's responsibility at all times.

The London robotaxis rely on a different, older route. Transport for London licensed Wayve's cars as ordinary private hire vehicles in August 2026, and a condition of that licence is a qualified driver who stays responsible for the car. Just 15 were licensed at launch.

The timetable, and why it slipped

In June 2025 the government fast-tracked small-scale taxi- and bus-like pilots with no safety driver to spring 2026, ahead of the full regime. Applications for these automated passenger services permits opened in May 2026. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency issues the permits, but in London TfL must consent first. TfL told the London Assembly it would have six weeks to decide, after which consent is deemed to be given.

Progress has been slower than ministers hoped. In August the Guardian reported that no operator had yet registered vehicles with the Vehicle Certification Agency, the first stage. In late October Highways magazine reported that no vehicles had been listed under the Act and no application had reached TfL, which says its guidance for applicants will not be ready "for some time". Wayve's chief executive, Alex Kendall, has declined to put a date on fully driverless rides.

Waymo and Baidu's Apollo Go are also testing in London, and in October Uber began testing in Manchester with partners Pony and Verne, using safety drivers and no passengers. For the local pushback, see our report on the robotaxi protest at Wayve's King's Cross office.

How Britain compares

United States. The US is well ahead on real-world use. In May 2026 Waymo said it was serving riders in eleven US metropolitan areas and providing more than 500,000 rides a week, with no one behind the wheel. (See our piece on Waymo's move to Toronto.)

China. Baidu says Apollo Go operates in 28 cities worldwide and has given more than 23 million rides. But the risks are visible too: in April, Reuters, citing Bloomberg, reported that China had paused new autonomous vehicle licences after Apollo Go robotaxis abruptly stopped in Wuhan.

Europe. Germany passed a law in 2021 allowing driverless vehicles in approved operating areas, and Mercedes-Benz's Drive Pilot is approved there to drive itself at up to 95km/h on motorways while the driver looks away. In August 2026 Zagreb became the first European city to offer public autonomous rides, through Uber and still with onboard monitoring, and Waymo plans a commercial launch in Munich in late 2027. Madrid is another battleground, as our report on Bolt's plans explains.

Britain's strength is the law itself, which spells out who is responsible when a computer is driving. Where it lags is deployment.

What happens next

Three things must come together before you can ride with nobody in the front: vehicles registered and permits granted under the pilot scheme, TfL's guidance for London, and companies confident enough to remove the safety driver. Meanwhile the government expects the full regulatory framework, including the authorisation of self-driving vehicles you could own, to be in place in the second half of 2027.

For most people, the first genuinely driverless journey will be a robotaxi in a big city rather than a car on their own drive. When it comes, the law on who is responsible will already be written.