Taxi drivers protest driverless tech advances by projecting their faces onto London landmarks

Campaign follows Osborne’s Budget promise of investment in driverless tech

Hailo said that the knowledge and experience of the traditional cab driver is something that can’t be replaced with technology.

A campaign protesting the advance of driverless technology is projecting the faces of London cab drivers on city landmarks.

The ‘Face to Faceless’ campaign has been organised by Hailo, a taxi app, to protest against the £100 million investment in driverless technology promised by George Osborne in his budget. Hailo said that the knowledge and experience of the traditional cab driver is something that can’t be replaced with technology.

“Cabbies have been a part of this city for hundreds of years and the move towards driverless cars is killing not only an entire profession, but a huge part of Britain’s heritage,” said Hailo chief marketing officer Gary Bramall.

The UK economy could get a £51 billion boost from driverless cars, which advocates say would cut road congestion and accidents in London, while generating 320,000 new jobs in the UK by 2030, according to a report published this week.

The KPMG study said that every new car will have some form of connectivity by 2030 and more than a quarter will be fully autonomous. Driverless car trials have already started in four UK locations, including Greenwich.

Osborne hopes to make the UK a global force in driverless technology. In the US, Elon Musk, the chief executive of PayPal and Tesla, the electronic car, this week raised doubts about another stream of car technology: the flying car. He said that while flying cars are worthwhile, tunnels can work just as well.