A self-driving technology company has said that extensive testing will prove its system compares well with high-performing human drivers, rather than just being safer than the average driver. Wayve has been developing its technology on UK roads since 2018, and later this year will begin ride-hailing operations in London in partnership with Uber, using a fleet of adapted Ford Mustang Mach-Es. This will initially be with a safety operator in place behind the wheel to monitor the system, but appearing on a panel at the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) International Automotive Summit, Michael Holland, chief of staff – product and strategy at Wayve, discussed the threshold at which this operator could be removed. The UK’s Automated Vehicles Act 2024 features a safety principle that approved systems must “achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers”. Ensure you always get Fleet News insight. Make us a preferred source of news on Google. Holland said: “Between now and when we remove the driver, we will do a cascade of testing. We want to continue to mature the system. And then when we're happy that we've collected enough data to prove that we are safer than an attentive, careful human driver, that's when we can think about removing the safety operator.” When asked for more details on the delay before full deployment, with data cited suggesting self-driving vehicle accident rates were lower than for human drivers, Holland explained that this in itself would not be a sufficient barrier to clear. He said: “If you look at the crash statistics for normal drivers, there's a certain number that you need to meet to be safer than one of those, but you have people who fall asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers, everything