A video circulating online appears to show one of Uber and Wayve’s newly launched autonomous taxis involved in a collision near Tower Bridge just hours after the service began carrying passengers in London.
The footage appears to show one of the distinctive Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles being used for Uber’s new autonomous service following a collision with the side of a Tesla Model Y.
The incident appears to have happened near Tower Bridge in central London.
At this stage, the circumstances leading to the collision have not been independently established and there is no confirmed information showing which vehicle was responsible.
It is also not currently known whether Wayve’s autonomous driving system was controlling the vehicle at the moment of impact or whether the onboard safety driver had intervened.
That distinction is important because the vehicles launched in London today are not yet operating completely without a human behind the wheel.
During the initial rollout, each autonomous vehicle has a trained and Transport for London-licensed private hire driver onboard who can take control if required.
Nevertheless, the timing of the footage is likely to attract significant attention because Uber and Wayve only launched their public autonomous passenger service in London today, Thursday 3 September 2026.
DM News reported earlier today that passengers requesting UberX, Uber Electric or Uber Comfort journeys can now potentially be matched with one of Wayve’s autonomous Ford Mustang Mach-E vehicles through the normal Uber app.
The service represents the first time ordinary Uber customers in the UK have been able to request a normal journey and potentially be matched with an autonomous vehicle.
Passengers are informed before an autonomous car arrives and can choose to switch back to a conventional human-driven Uber if they do not want to take the journey.
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Wayve’s autonomous driving technology has been developed in Britain and has been tested extensively on London’s roads.
The company’s system uses artificial intelligence to interpret road conditions and make driving decisions using information from cameras and other vehicle sensors.
London provides a particularly challenging environment for autonomous vehicles because of its busy junctions, pedestrians, cyclists, buses, taxis and complex road layouts.
Uber and Wayve have said the initial public rollout will be gradual, with the technology continuing to operate under human supervision.
The longer-term ambition is for autonomous vehicles to eventually operate without a safety driver, although further regulatory approval would be required before genuinely driverless passenger journeys could begin.
The video circulating today will therefore inevitably attract scrutiny because of how soon it has appeared after the highly publicised launch.
However, the fact an autonomous vehicle has been involved in a collision does not by itself establish that the autonomous system caused it.
Until more information becomes available, it would be premature to attribute responsibility to Wayve’s technology, the safety driver or the Tesla driver involved.
DM News will update the story if Uber, Wayve, Transport for London, police or other authorities release further information about the incident.
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Sources
Facebook Video – Footage of Uber-Wayve Vehicle Collision Near Tower Bridge
