There's also a surprising number of places where there simply isn't room for both directions and you have to negotiate with other drivers
Surprising number? These places are everywhere, all across the UK. Especially residential streets that are only one car wide once cars are parked on one or both sides of the road.
Actually, this is also why I stopped using Waze. Coming back from Heathrow once, I could have just taken the M4 and South Circular, but Waze claimed it would save me more than seven minutes on 25-35 minute journey, so I thought I'd give it a go. It took me through Hounslow and the back streets of Isleworth before crossing the A316 bridge in to Richmond. It ended up taking at least 15 minutes longer than the easy route and a vast amount more effort, in the dark. Much of that extra time was either reversing in to a gap between parked cars to let somebody by, or waiting for an oncoming car to do the same for me.
The good thing about Waymo is I'm sure they'll stick to the 20 mph speed limit and won't run amber and red traffic lights. A lot of people in the UK won't drive in London because it's so much harder than anywhere else in the country. It remains to be seen how well they cope with pedestrians randomly appearing in the road without looking in places like the West End or the City, or with cyclists working their way through the traffic.
