A Waymo self-driving car

When Waymo announced this week that London will host its first European fleet with autonomous taxis hitting the capital’s streets from next year, I thought it was the perfect time to test one out.

It’s an unusual feeling, sitting in a car with no one in the driver’s seat, watching it turn, brake and steer as if by magic.

Yet this has become increasingly normal in San Francisco, where I recently climbed into a Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous ride-hailing service.

The seatbelt clicked over the empty driver’s seat, the touchscreen lit up, and a live map displayed every vehicle, pedestrian, and cyclist around me.

The ride was surprisingly smooth and eerily efficient, albeit slightly unnerving.

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