00:00Waymo, the US driverless car firm, said it hopes to be operating a robo-taxi service in London as soon as September this year.
00:11The UK government has said it plans to change regulations in the second half of 2026 to enable driverless taxis to operate in the city, but has not given a specific date.
00:24Waymo said a pilot service will launch in April and local transport minister Lillian Greenwood said that they are supporting Waymo and other operators as well through passenger pilots and pro-innovation regulations to make self-driving cars a reality on British roads.
00:44Now, Waymo's vehicles are currently being operated by a safety driver mapping the streets, but when the service launches to paying passengers, there will be no human at the will. Uber and other companies could soon follow.
01:00But how do Londoners feel about driverless taxis here in the capital?
01:04I think I'll be fine, actually. I don't know. I trust it. I don't know. Maybe I'm naive, but I trust that it would work. I think people are clever enough to do that now.
01:17Because you've been able to do driverless Teslas for like an autopilot for like a while.
01:22We actually ridden one in San Francisco. We were coming back from a bar and we took one back to the apartment we were staying at and it felt pretty safe.
01:31It was actually cheaper than like Uber, like a regular Uber was, I guess because they don't have to pay anyone.
01:37And it was cool. It was kind of crazy because it's like it just drives for you. It talks to you.
01:41You can like still like pick your music on like a little screen and everything.
01:44The only thing I did see like a TikTok recently where someone was in it and then like people were like vandalizing the car while they were in the car, while the car was stopped.
01:52But then the car just like kept going and it was fine.
01:54That would be like the only concern because it's like the car doesn't know to like leave or anything, but it was cool.
01:59I don't know if I would get in it because it's a little bit, I don't know if I would feel safe particularly in it.
02:08I don't know if you know the paradox when a self-driving car and there's, I don't know, two people and it's about a crash.
02:15Who does it kill or does it drive into?
02:20And it's very complicated how the car would react on certain things if it were react fast enough.
02:27Well, then you don't have to make small talk with your driver.
02:30Is that a comment? People are like, yes, I don't have to chat.
02:33I have a lot of friends that live in San Francisco that have been in them.
02:37So I think knowing that someone else has done it, I'm like, sure.
02:41And I don't know how a self-driving car would really react because it's very spontaneous.
02:45A human can react spontaneous on some things, but the AI car or the self-driving car would have to make those decisions according to the programming.
02:55And I don't know if I would trust that much.
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