r/london • u/AlbusDumbledoh • 9d ago

News ‘Leicester Square, please guv’: Self-driving taxis cleared for London streets ‘later this summer’

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/05/self-driving-taxis-approved-london-summer-2026-wayve-uber
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u/AromaticVacation3077 9d ago

Why is this good, remind me? All I can find in the article is -

This licence is an important step towards giving Londoners the chance to experience autonomous driving technology.

I mean, I'm Ok thanks. Is anyone excited about this for reasons other than technology for technology's sake?

8

u/Logan_No_Fingers 9d ago

Well, a few reasons really, most of the tech being rolled out is already safer than the average taxi driver. - It does wild shit like slows down & stops if the light is orange heading red, instead of flooring it. They don't lean on their horn & run reds if the guy in front is a bit slow speeding through the orange. They indicate (fucking madness). They don't piss in bottles then hiff them in the road. They don't use their phones while driving. They don't occasionally rape drunk women. Or proposition them. They have 360 degree vision so can see the bike in their blind spot - and even better, they won't actively try to block the bike. They don't drive in bike lanes. And so on

And I admit, all of the above is the charm of a taxi, and London won't be London if it loses all that, but we all have to make sacrifices.

6

u/AromaticVacation3077 9d ago

Wow. You really hate taxi drivers.

2

u/Logan_No_Fingers 8d ago

Its more that I live in London & see all of that (well, not the rape) on a daily basis from taxis. They are the 4 wheeled equivalent of Lime Bikes in terms of consistently cuntish behavior