ROBOTAXIS
NEW YORK CITY EXTENDS WAYMO DRIVERLESS CAR TRIAL IN MANHATTAN
The trial programme for driverless vehicles in New York City has been extended through to the end of the year. Waymo, the company running the programme and also operating in several other U.S. cities, received the extension from the
Department of Transportation to continue its pilot in Manhattan. The DoT granted access on the condition that an operator remains in the driver’s seat during the tests. The programme, which ran over the summer, has generated significant opposition
from local taxi and livery drivers who view it as a threat to their employment. Uber and Lyft drivers, scared for their jobs, have collected more than 7,700 signatures on a petition calling to ban self-driving cars across New York state.
WAYMO UK DRIVERLESS TAXIS ROLLOUT HIGHLIGHTS LEGAL GAPS
The UK is poised to be the first European country to introduce Waymo’s driverless taxi service, starting with a supervised fleet and moving to fully autonomous operations by 2026. However, legal experts warn that the UK’s current legal framework is “fundamentally incompatible” with the technology. Waymo plans to “start with a small fleet and gradually expand, working closely with the DfT and TfL to ensure safety and regulatory compliance at every stage,” says Ethan Teicher of Waymo. Lawyers have raised significant concerns about liability, telling City AM that the existing system is unprepared for driverless cars. Ernest Aduwa, partner at Stokoe Partnership Solicitors, stated: “Our current system of motoring offences is built upon a funda- mental, and until now, unshake- able principle, the principle of human agency. Every driving offence requires a culpable human mind behind the wheel.” He added that the arrival of truly driverless cars “shatters this principle and forces us to confront a legal vacuum,” asking: “If a
PHTM NOVEMBER 2025
driverless car exceeds the speed limit, crashes into another vehicle/ property, or causes injury, who carries the blame? Is it Waymo? The car manufacturer? Or the software engineer who wrote the code?” The concern is amplified by Waymo’s US collision record, which includes 398 collisions as of June 2025. Legal professionals are calling for scrutiny of the new Automated Vehicles Act 2024, which became law in May 2024. Darius Latham-Koenig, Associate at Grosvenor Law, noted that the “legal questions of liability are yet to be adequately resolved, part- icularly in an accident scenario,” and that the Act’s implementation “should be heavily scrutinised to ensure legal clarification.” William Smith, partner at Addleshaw Goddard, agreed that “The legislative framework is in place, but there is still a lot of detail to be fleshed out, particularly around liability, enforcement and data governance.” The new law introduces a category of
“authorised self-driving entities,” which will be held to high
safety standards. Andrew Sanderson, partner at Kingsley Napley, explained: “These entities, not human drivers, will be held to safety standards equal to or better than those of a competent driver. This shift means liability in the event of an accident could rest with software developers, manu- facturers, fleet operators, or even infrastructure providers, not just the person behind the wheel.” He added that the law updates the previous Act (2018) by addressing complex issues such as cyber- security and data sharing, and that it represents a “wake-up call” for insurers and transport companies. Sanderson concluded: “The traditional fault-based model is being replaced by a system-centric approach. New insurance products are emerging to separate human error from system failure, and regulators are demanding clarity on cybersecurity, data sharing, and operational protocols.” The true impact of the new law remains untested, and legal profes- sionals are warned to be ready for a landscape “where liability is shared, complex, and constantly evolving.”
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