Motorway traffic drones are coming to UK roads, but will they drive us to distraction?

I’m barrelling down the motorway at 70mph, swerving from lane to lane, with cars speeding past me. There’s just one problem, I don’t have a driving licence. Or at least it would be a problem were this a real road test. But despite the life-like surroundings, I am in fact trialling a complex simulation created by virtual reality company MXT on behalf of National Highways, the government-owned agency responsible for the UK’s major roads. Its purpose, beyond being fun, is to see if drivers are likely to be distracted or disturbed by the introduction of low-flying drones deployed to monitor the state of the country’s 4,500 miles of motorways and A-roads. Human-operated drones have already been used by the National Highways since 2020, in collaboration with engineering company Arup, but the agency is hoping to roll out even smaller drones that can get closer to sites of possible road maintenance, with the hope of having them in the air above motorways by early 2027. The writer taking part in a simulation run by the National Highways agency and Arup to see if his ability to drive would be affected by drones. Photograph: Jon Super/The Guardian National Highways say smaller drones flying at a lower altitude of between 10 and 20 metres will be able to pick up more details than larger drones, which are only allowed to fly about 50 metres above the road’s surface. The smaller drones are also about 10 times cheaper. The simulation examines how feasible this is. …