Image credit: Verne Uber has launched autonomous vehicle testing in Manchester in partnership with Pony.ai and Verne, marking another step in the ride-hailing company’s plans to introduce driverless passenger services across the UK. The development was confirmed, with the companies announcing that Pony.ai’s seventh-generation autonomous vehicles are now being tested on Manchester’s roads. The initial operation involves vehicles mapping the city’s streets with a safety driver

A cigarette lit inside a licensed vehicle is not just an unpleasant customer-service issue. It engages smoke-free law placing responsibility on the person controlling the vehicle and can create a separate licensing problem for the driver. GOV.UK identifies taxis and private hire vehicles among the work vehicles in which smoking is prohibited. The rule protects passengers and other people using the vehicle rather than depending on whether anybody objects to the smoke. That mea

A licensed plate does not provide a national pass into every bus lane. The permission can change from one street to the next and from one hour to another. Rule 141 of the Highway Code says bus-lane signs identify which other vehicles may use the lane. Unless the signs indicate permission, drivers should remain outside during the lane’s operating period. A sign displaying the word “taxi” generally refers to a licensed hackney carriage, not every vehicle that the public casuall