Autonomous cars will transform life for society’s most vulnerable
Self-driving vehicles may be some way off. But they could offer cost-effective solutions
Opinion
by Matt Prior
2 mins read
19 April 2025
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Nissan has now finished testing autonomous cars on UK roads, as its EvolvAD project has come to a close – the last part of an eight-year scheme.
This bit was to see whether a self-driving Nissan Leaf could operate outside of cities and in less connected areas, on residential and single-track country roads, to discover what types of technology will be necessary to drive in such complex environments.
Nissan says the trial has been “tremendously successful”, but you may note that there aren’t autonomous cars serving your neighbourhood yet. Over eight years, autonomous Leafs have driven 16,000 miles over all kinds of terrain. You may also note that doesn’t sound very far.
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Autonomous cars are still a long way away, then. And it’s unclear whether they’re viable at all and whether we will ever get there. If you’ve driven a car with any assisted driving technology, you will know how hopeless it can be.
But, but, but. To remind us why it’s doing it, Nissan put a 93-year-old in one of these cars and had it drive him around to show what it could do.
Because while autonomous technology might take the weight off while it drives you to work, more importantly it can also be used to keep mobile the people who need it most – those who can’t drive themselves.
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People lament losing personal mobility, their ability to drive, because it gets really expensive when they can’t, and that’s because employing drivers is the expensive bit in any commercial road transport. I have a local bus service that operates limited hours and has to be underwritten by the council for that reason.
So if it costs even, say, £300,000 to equip a vehicle with autonomous driving technology, if the vehicle operates all the time and the technology replaces several drivers, it will pay for itself quickly.
The prospect of self-driving vehicles is bad news for professional drivers. But for people who need to get around, who can’t drive, who can’t get to a bus and who can’t afford taxis, it could make the difference between staying in a home or community they love or being carted off to a home less dignified.
It can make independence more affordable, more viable. And for that reason, it’s worth seeing if it will work.
