Source · Select Committees · Transport Committee
Seventh Report - Self-driving vehicles
Transport Committee
HC 519
Published 15 September 2023
Recommendations
3
Accepted
Require Government to adopt a cautious, gradual approach to self-driving vehicle introduction.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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 a communication toolkit.
Department for Transport
View Details →
4
Accepted
Para 62
Require Government to set a clearer, more stretching safety threshold for self-driving vehicles.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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 to changing its proposed safety ambition.
Department for Transport
View Details →
8
Accepted
Lead efforts to resolve policy issues for safe deployment of self-driving vehicles by 2025.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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 for self-driving vehicles.
Department for Transport
View Details →
11
Accepted
Urgently bring forward comprehensive legislation for a robust self-driving vehicle regulatory framework.
Recommendation
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 …
Read more
Government Response Summary
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
View Details →
Conclusions (4)
1
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 33
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 Summary
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.
6
Conclusion
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 Summary
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.
7
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 79
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 Summary
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 secondary legislation and developed within the CAVPASS safety assurance programme, with ongoing collaboration with the insurance industry.
10
Conclusion
Accepted
Para 102
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 Summary
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.