Posted on the 4th February 2026 in PHTM News

LONDON'S SELF-DRIVING ROBOTAXI CAUGHT BREAKING THE LAW BY RUNNING RED LIGHT

A high-tech driverless car has been caught on camera driving through a red light in central London.

Alex Kendall, the boss of British tech company Wayve, posted the video on social media to show off his car's “impressive drive without intervention” on his way to receive an OBE from the Princess Royal.

However, the footage revealed the car moving through a red light at Parliament Square while trying to navigate heavy traffic next to a bus.

The company has since admitted the mistake, explaining that their vehicles are “prototypes” that still have humans behind the wheel to monitor them.

A spokesperson for Wayve said: “We acknowledge that the more appropriate action would have been to manually take over the vehicle and keep it stationary until a green light was visible again.”

While some argued the car acted like a typical human driver in a traffic jam, running a red light is a serious offence that usually results in a fine and penalty points on a licence.

The incident has raised questions about how robot cars will be policed.

Steve McNamara, from the Licensed Taxi Drivers’ Association, pointed out that human cabbies can lose their jobs very easily for driving errors, asking: “Who is going to police these things and who is responsible for the points?” 

 


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