The first self-driving cars to be operated by regular British motorists will be left unmarked so that other road users won’t be tempted to bully them with aggressive overtakes or other manoeuvres.
From 2018, 100 self-driving Volvo XC90s will be leased to ordinary motorists in London as part of a pilot scheme to trial autonomous vehicles on London’ busy main roads. The scheme has been organised by Volvo in negotiations with Transport for London and Highways England.
It has been revealed by Volvo’s senior technical leader, Erik Coelingh, that the batch of self-driving cars will look no different to other Volvo XC90s in London.
It’s feared that if the Volvos are clearly marked as being autonomous, other motorists may try things such as slamming their brakes or driving erratically to force the driverless vehicles into submission.
Marked self-driving cars “would be interesting”
Speaking to the Observer, Coelingh said: “From the outside you won’t see that it’s a self-driving car. From a purely scientific perspective it would be interesting to have some cars that are marked as self-driving cars and some that are not and see whether other road users react in a different way.
“I would expect they will, but I don’t know how and to what extent. So just to be on the safe side they will all be unmarked cars. I’m pretty sure that people will challenge them if they are marked by doing really harsh braking in front of a self-driving car or putting themselves in the way.”
Coelingh’s comments have a similar vibe to a recent survey published by the London School of Economics, which said that aggressive drivers would attempt to “bully” autonomous vehicles which they’ll view as easy prey.
This November, the House of Lords science and technology committee will begin gathering evidence on driverless cars, looking at issues such as who will be legally accountable for a vehicle which “thinks” for itself.
