Dashcam footage shows one of London’s first driverless taxis running a red light as it drove the tech firm’s boss to Buckingham Palace to receive a gong for services to artificial intelligence.
Alex Kendall, chief executive of the British start-up Wayve, shared the footage on social media, apparently unaware his self-driving vehicle had broken the law by driving through a red light in central London.
Mr Kendall shared a photo of him receiving his OBE from the Princess Royal alongside footage of the ‘impressive drive without intervention’, after ‘many asked to see the autonomous drive’ to the Palace.
The video showed Mr Kendall’s car driving to the ceremony via Victoria Embankment and Parliament Square.
As the car negotiated heavy traffic on the south-west corner of Parliament Square, it stopped in front of a white stop line.
A bus can be seen straddling the stop line and crossing beyond it, having to stop there after following slow-moving cars to the junction.
The traffic light for that arm of the junction then changes from green to red – but, as the jam clears, the bus and the Wayve car drive forward.
Although it is legally the wrong thing to do, footage suggests it is probably what most human drivers would do in that situation.
The car ran a red light, which is a motoring offence carrying three penalty points and a £100 fine
Alex Kendall (pictured right), chief executive of the British start-up Wayve, shared the footage on social media
Wayve later admitted the car had run the red light, saying the firm’s cars are ‘prototypes’ and it would be conducting a review.
A spokesman said all journeys have ‘trained safety operators in the driver’s seat’ for monitoring, adding: ‘We acknowledge that the more appropriate action would have been to manually take over the vehicle and keep it stationary until a green light was visible again.’
Running a red light is a motoring offence carrying three penalty points and a £100 fine.
Steve McNamara, general secretary of the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, said: ‘London cabbies have their licences revoked at six points. Who is going to police these things and who is responsible for the points?’
It comes as human rights lawyer Cherie Blair suggested driverless cars may help women trying to flee abusive partners.
She told The Mail on Sunday the cars cut risk as ‘male drivers can be a risk for women’. The Refuge charity ambassador added that it ‘would be good to see them integrated with domestic abuse charities’.
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Driverless taxi that jumped red light… but did it actually do the correct thing and prevent a busy junction snarl-up?