New laws introduced into Parliament on November 8 are designed to put safety at the heart of the roll-out of self-driving vehicle technology and position the UK as a world-leader of the £42bn industry.
The government’s new Automated Vehicles (AV) Bill aims to deliver one of the most comprehensive legal frameworks of its kind anywhere in the world for self-driving vehicles, with safety at its core.
The new safety framework will ensure clear liability for the user, set the safety threshold for legal self-driving and establish an in-use regulatory scheme to monitor the ongoing safety of these vehicles.
Self-driving vehicles could help reduce deaths and injuries from drink driving, speeding and driver tiredness, with 88% of road collisions having human error as a contributory factor. But before these vehicles are allowed on our roads, they will now have to meet or exceed rigorous new safety requirements, set out in law.
The technology also aims to help make travel more convenient and accessible, improving the lives of millions of people who cannot drive.
The government says the Bill will help cement the UK’s position as a global leader and could create up to 38,000 jobs.
It comes amid wider government funding and support for trials of self-driving technologies in the UK, such as the £66m Commercialising Connected and Automated Mobility fund which is supporting 20 projects in nearly 50 organisations to develop prototype passenger and logistics self-driving services.
The AV Bill will create a rigorous new safety framework, setting the safety threshold for self-driving vehicles in law, while giving government the tools it needs to enforce standards and hold companies to account.
It will ensure clear legal liability at all times making companies responsible for how their self-driving vehicles behave on the road and protecting users from being unfairly held accountable. And it will protect consumers and the public, ensuring only vehicles that meet rigorous self-driving standards can be marketed as such.
All self-driving vehicles will be required to undergo robust safety testing before they are permitted to drive on UK roads, and the AV Bill will ensure clear legal liability when a vehicle is driving itself by creating new legal entities responsible for self-driving.
Every authorised self-driving vehicle will have a corresponding Authorised Self-Driving Entity– often the manufacturer – which will be responsible for the behaviour of the vehicle when self-driving. Companies will have ongoing obligations to keep their vehicles safe and ensure that they continue to drive in accordance with British laws.
The Bill will prohibit misleading market practices, including using ambiguous terminology in advertising material around whether the vehicles classify as self driving. Regulations under the Bill will set out specific terminology and symbols which will be reserved for marketing authorised self-driving vehicles. Unauthorised and improper use of this terminology will be against the law and a criminal offence.
