What you need to know about self-driving cars

Semi-autonomous cars could soon be a fixture on the UAE's roads and motorways

A self-driving car operated by California start-up Zoox. The company began to test its technology on public roads in Las Vegas in 2019. Reuters

W Motors chairman and chief executive Ralph Debbas in the company's self-driving prototype. The company was founded in 2012 but became famous after one of its vehicles, the Lykan HyperSport, was featured in the 2015 film 'Furious 7'. Victor Besa / The National

The W Motors self-driving vehicle prototype, on display at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference in Abu Dhabi in 2019. Victor Besa / The National.

Cruise, the self-driving vehicle company backed by General Motors and Honda, will launch its first international robotaxi service outside the US in Dubai in 2023. Cruise

A driverless Cruise vehicle at the Detroit Motor Show. The company is stationing five self-driving cars in San Francisco as it looks to develop a robot taxi service. AP

The 10-seater smart driverless car tested by the Roads and Transport Authority in Business Bay, Dubai. Courtesy RTA.

Ajman's first self-driving bus went on goes on its first official drive in November 2021, with Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid Al Nuaimi, director of Ajman Municipality and Planning Department and UAE's Minister of Artificial Intelligence, Omar bin Sultan Al Olama, onboard.

A Zoox robot taxi. The vehicle is loaded with sensors, has no steering wheel and is capable of transporting four people at up to 120 kilometres per hour. Photo: Zoox

A self-driving car operated by Pittsburgh start-up Argo AI in New York. The company is working with Lyft and Ford to commercialise driverless ride-hailing services at scale. AFP

Volvo's self-driving 360c concept car, which was first announced in 2018 and can function as a mobile office or transform into a sleeping area. Volvo says the 360c will create demand for inter-city taxi passengers travelling as far as 300km. Photo: Volvo

Self-driving cars might seem like something out of a science fiction movie but they are closer to becoming a reality than you might think.

The recent announcement that self-driving taxis will be tested in Abu Dhabi, after Dubai granted permission for licences to try out automated vehicles, means we are closer than ever to seeing driverless cars on the UAE's roads.

The National takes a look at how we are on the verge of embracing the new technology and why we should be excited.

Proper infrastructure is needed first

Semi-autonomous cars, which drive themselves albeit with a human in command behind the steering wheel, could soon become a fixture on Emirati roads and motorways.

“We could have self-driving cars on the roads right now as the technology is there,” said Adam Whitnall, chief executive of car comparison site Drive Ninja.

“The caveat is we are at the level of advancement where human supervision is still required. There still needs to be someone sitting in the driver seat, being alert at all times and ready to assume control of the vehicle.”

We are at the level of advancement where human supervision is still required

Adam Whitnall,
car comparison site Drive Ninja

The issue is not around the cars or the technology, it is a matter of having the right infrastructure in place, Mr Whitnall said.

“When you have well-defined lanes and clearly marked barriers and signs it’s not so much of an issue,” he said.

“However, once you go on to roads where the markings are not so clear, it becomes more of a challenge.

‘Without that guidance, the onboard cameras and sensors can struggle, so it’s a question of getting the road infrastructure in place. We’re going to probably see a hybrid approach at first where cars only drive autonomously on some roads.”

The UAE’s road network is better placed than most though to adapt to the change, he added.

Interacting with other cars that do not have the same technology is also a significant hurdle, Mr Whitnall said.

“How does an autonomous car communicate with one that’s 20 years old with more primitive technology onboard?” he said.

“That’s going to be a huge challenge. We are not going to get to the stage where cars drive themselves without any human supervision until all vehicles are able to communicate with each other.

“There is also the issue of people actually being able to afford to buy cars that have this kind of capacity as well.”

An Argo AI self-driving test car, from the autonomous vehicle start-up in Pittsburgh, is parked outside a joint press conference held by Ford and Volkswagen in New York City. AFP

A Waymo self-driving vehicle pulls into the car park at the Google-owned company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. AFP

A Zoox Inc. self-driving car is operated outside the company's headquarters in Foster City, California. Bloomberg

A Jaguar I Pace autonomous vehicle takes people on a drive during the Dubai World Congress for Self-Driving Transport. Chris Whiteoak / The National

One of Fords autonomous-vehicle partner Argo AI's cars is displayed after a press conference in New York City. AFP

An Uber car equipped with cameras and sensors drives the streets of Washington. AFP

A self-driving car developed by Didi, a Chinese company providing app-based transport services, is put through a road test in Jiading district, Shanghai. Reuters

A Hyundai autonomous car is tested in Irvine, California. AFP

A 10-seater smart driverless car is tested by the Roads and Transport Authority, in Business Bay, Dubai. Photo: RTA

Autonomous self-driving vehicle testing in a pedestrianised zone at a media event in Milton Keynes, north of London. AFP

When can we let the car fully drive itself?

The thought of going to sleep in the back seat or catching up with emails while the car’s computer takes care of the driving is an attractive one.

It is also not going to happen anytime soon, according to Mr Whitnall.

“We’re still at least a decade away,” he said.

“We are going to get there quickly in terms of the cars themselves but it’s everything else, like the roads and other cars that can’t communicate via the internet that will hold it up.”

Another major concern for regulators is handing complete control of decision-making to an artificial intelligence, which could have serious repercussions in the event of an accident.

“If you’re driving a car and someone walks out in front of you the decision of what to do is made by you,” he said.

“But there is a conundrum for the tech side about what to do in those instances when the car is driving itself and who is responsible in the event of a death.

“That’s a big problem that hasn’t been overcome yet.”

The robotaxi service in Dubai will use the Cruise Origin, an all-electric shuttle unveiled in January last year. Photo: Cruise

When will we see driverless cars in the UAE?

Ajman launched a self-driving shuttle bus in the emirate recently, and Abu Dhabi is testing autonomous taxis on Yas Island.

Trials are currently taking place in Dubai, with plans to have as many as 4,000 driverless vehicles on the emirate's roads by 2030.

"The Roads and Transport Authority has conducted several trials across the city," said Ahmed Bahrozyan, chief executive of the Public Transport Agency for Dubai's RTA.

"Earlier this year, we have announced a major deal with GM Cruise to deploy 4,000 robotaxis in Dubai, which is expected to be launched in 2023."

The next step, he said, would be the comprehensive legislation of operating self-driving cars which would be "issued soon".

He said the technology would be gradually introduced until it became a normal way of life on the emirate's roads.

"The safety of the self-driving vehicle passengers and vulnerable roads users is a top priority for RTA," Mr Bahrozyan said.

"Although the designated lanes provide a higher level of safety, as the technology becomes more mature over time, the need for designated lanes will become obsolete."

How long have driverless cars been about?

The answer is a lot longer than you might first think. In 1977, Japanese firm Tsukuba Mechanical created a driverless car that could reach 32 kilometres an hour by tracing white street markers on two vehicle-mounted cameras.

Are self-driving cars already on the roads anywhere else?

In the US there is estimated to be more than 1,400 autonomous cars in use.

This has not been without controversy. Earlier this year, a Tesla car in Houston, Texas was reported to have driven itself into a tree, killing two people.

The UK government approved the use of self-driving vehicles at slow speeds on its motorways in April, using sensors and software to make sure the cars were kept within the correct lanes.

What is the fastest speed recorded by a self-driving car?

That accolade belongs to London car manufacturer Roborace that created an autonomous vehicle that clocked more than 280kph in 2019, receiving official recognition from the Guinness Book of World Records in the process.