Recommendations & Conclusions
11 items
1
Conclusion
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
There is a broad range of possible uses for self-driving vehicles, and we believe they have the potential to improve transport connectivity with significant safety, productivity, and mobility benefits. However, over the last decade, progress in this technology has failed to meet many of its promoters’ predictions, and this has …
Government response. The government accepts the premise and outlines how its existing CAM 2025 white paper, Automated Vehicles Bill, and CAVPASS safety programme already address the potential benefits and gradual uptake of self-driving vehicles, including considerations for disabled persons and public acceptance.
Department for Transport
2
Conclusion
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Rejected
Hopefully expectations of self-driving vehicle technology have become more realistic. Self-driving vehicles that can go anywhere at any time remain purely hypothetical, but in more circumscribed forms they can become reality. Nobody is likely to be taking a self-driving vehicle the whole way from Land’s End to John o’ Groats …
Government response. The government does not accept the Committee's view on the proposed safety ambition, stating that setting it too high could stifle innovation and that a level equivalent to a competent and careful human driver is currently appropriate. It highlights the …
Department for Transport
3
Recommendation
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
In principle we welcome the introduction of self-driving vehicles, but the Government must take a cautious, gradual approach with the technology introduced only in well- defined and appropriate contexts. As such, we broadly welcome the strategy the Government has set out. However, without careful handling, self-driving vehicles could worsen congestion …
Government response. The government partially accepts, outlining existing definitions of self-driving vehicles and regulations for safe handovers from systems to drivers. It notes ongoing work through the CAVPASS program to consider driver education and licensing, alongside updates to The Highway Code and …
Department for Transport
4
Recommendation
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
While it is widely assumed that self-driving vehicles will prove safer than human drivers, this is not a given. Optimistic predictions are often based on widespread self- driving vehicle usage that is decades away, or assertions about human error that ignore other risks. Safety must remain the Government’s overriding priority …
Government response. The government noted the recommendation and outlined how the forthcoming Automated Vehicles Bill will provide a legal liability framework and detailed safety requirements, with specific requirements to be set in secondary legislation and developed through the CAVPASS programme, without committing …
Department for Transport
5
Recommendation
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Deferred
Greater automation will reduce time spent driving. Over time drivers may become less practised and therefore less skilled. Conversely, the demands on drivers will grow as they will be called upon to retake control of vehicles in challenging circumstances with little notice. The Government should set out a strategy for …
Government response. The government partially accepts, but then deflects the recommendation regarding a strategy for human driving skills and testing to focus instead on plans for digitising Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) via the Automated Vehicles Bill and the National Highways Digital Roads …
Department for Transport
6
Conclusion
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
The introduction of self-driving vehicles to the UK’s roads will affect all road users. We believe that this should not impose new responsibilities on other road users and pedestrians, limit their access to, or use of, public infrastructure or, crucially, make them less safe. (Paragraph 64) 36 Self-driving vehicles What …
Government response. The government accepts this recommendation and highlights the Automated Vehicles Bill, which will establish clear legal liability for companies, create a comprehensive safety framework with ongoing requirements and sanctions, enable new incident investigation processes, and protect consumers from misleading marketing.
Department for Transport
7
Conclusion
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
Connected vehicles pose new dangers, which the law must evolve to meet. A safety- led culture will require wide access to data, and this must be a higher priority than commercial confidentiality. Ensuring self-driving vehicles are roadworthy will be more complicated than for conventional vehicles, not least because there is …
Government response. The government notes the committee's conclusions and is addressing the challenges through the recently announced Automated Vehicles Bill, which clarifies legal liability and provides a framework for detailed safety and data sharing requirements. Specific requirements will be set out in …
Department for Transport
8
Recommendation
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
The Government has put good structures in place, but it is not enough just to participate in or facilitate conversations about unresolved policy issues, including access to data, verifying roadworthiness, legal liability and insurance implications. If self-driving vehicles are to be deployed on our roads by 2025, safely and successfully, …
Government response. The government notes the recommendation and outlines how the recently announced Automated Vehicles Bill and ongoing work, including international discussions and collaboration with the insurance industry, are already addressing policy issues such as legal liability, safety requirements, and data sharing …
Department for Transport
9
Recommendation
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted in Part
Self-driving vehicles will need well-maintained roads and signage, nationwide connectivity, and up-to-date digital information about the road network. While some steps have been taken towards this by the Government and public bodies, these preparations are too siloed and divorced from broader planning. If the Government is serious about self-driving vehicles, …
Government response. The government partially accepts the recommendation, citing provisions in the Automated Vehicles Bill for digitising Traffic Regulation Orders as a step to support self-driving vehicles. It also commits to developing future guidance for road authorities on investing in traffic control …
Department for Transport
10
Conclusion
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
The current laws for self-driving vehicles are archaic and limiting, especially concerning testing and legal liability. We commend the work of the Law Commissions and the Government in devising a new legal framework. That framework has broad support, albeit with more detail needed in some areas. This makes it deeply …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation, stating it is delighted to bring the Automated Vehicles Bill to the fourth Parliamentary session, as announced in the King's Speech on 7 November 2023, to establish a legal framework for self-driving vehicles.
Department for Transport
11
Recommendation
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Accepted
The self-driving vehicle sector is a British success story. We were impressed, unfailingly so, by the energy, creativity, and expertise of all those we met, whether from industry, academia, Government or somewhere in between. We have a competitive advantage, and we must maintain it. To do this the Government must …
Government response. The government accepts the recommendation, confirming it will bring the Automated Vehicles Bill to the fourth Parliamentary session, as announced in the King's Speech on 7 November 2023, to establish a comprehensive safety and regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles.
Department for Transport