The report recommends introducing a new Automated Vehicles Act, to regulate vehicles that can drive themselves. It recommends drawing a clear distinction between features which just assist drivers, such as adaptive cruise control, and those that are self-driving.
Under the Law Commissions’ proposals, when a car is authorised by a regulatory agency as having “self-driving features” and those features are in-use, the person in the driving seat would no longer be responsible for how the car drives. Instead, the company or body that obtained the authorisation (an Authorised Self-Driving Entity) would face regulatory sanctions if anything goes wrong.
Nicholas Paines QC, Public Law Commissioner said:
“We have an unprecedented opportunity to promote public acceptance of automated vehicles with our recommendations on safety assurance and clarify legal liability. We can also make sure accessibility, especially for older and disabled people, is prioritised from the outset.”
David Bartos, Scottish Law Commissioner said:
“How should the law deal with self-driving technologies? Our joint report with the Law Commission sets out new laws for allowing automated vehicles on our roads, ensuring safety and accountability while encouraging innovation and development.”
Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said:
“The development of self-driving vehicles in the UK has the potential to revolutionise travel, making every day journeys safer, easier and greener.
This Government has been encouraging development and deployment of these technologies to understand their benefits. However, we must ensure we have the right regulations in place, based upon safety and accountability, in order to build public confidence.
That’s why the Department funded this independent report and I look forward to fully considering the recommendations and responding in due course.”
The difference between driver assistance and self-driving
Many driver assistance features are currently available to help a human driver. The report anticipates that, in future, these features will develop to a point where an automated vehicle will be able to drive itself for at least part of a journey, without a human paying attention to the road. For example, a car may be able to drive itself on a motorway, or a shuttle bus may be able to navigate a particular route.
A new system of legal accountability
Once a vehicle is authorised by a regulatory agency as having self-driving features, and a self-driving feature is engaged, the Law Commissions recommend a new system of legal accountability. Under it:
- The person in the driving seat would no longer be a driver but a “user-in-charge”. A user-in-charge cannot be prosecuted for offences which arise directly from the driving task. They would have immunity from a wide range of offences – from dangerous driving to exceeding the speed limit or running a red light. However, the user-in-charge would retain other driver duties, such as carrying insurance, checking loads or ensuring that children wear seat belts.
- The Authorised Self-Driving Entity (or ASDE) that had the vehicle authorised would have responsibility for it: if the vehicle drives in a way which would be criminal or unsafe if performed by a human driver, an in-use regulator would work with the ASDE to ensure that the matter does not recur. Regulatory sanctions would also be available to the regulator.
- Some vehicles may be authorised to drive themselves without anyone in the driver seat. Here any occupants of the vehicle would simply be passengers. Instead of having a user-in-charge, a licensed operator would be responsible for overseeing the journey. There would also be requirements for passenger services to be accessible, especially to older and disabled people
The Law Commissions’ recommendations build on the reforms introduced by the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018. The 2018 Act ensured that victims who suffer injury or damage from a vehicle that was driving itself will not need to prove that anyone was at fault. Instead, the insurer will compensate the victim directly.
Marketing
The Law Commissions recommend new safeguards to stop driver assistance features from being marketed as self-driving. This would help to minimise the risk of collisions caused by members of the public thinking that they do not need to pay attention to the road while a driver assistance feature is in operation.
Next steps
The report has been laid before Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. It will be for the UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments to decide whether to accept the Commissions’ recommendations and introduce legislation to bring them into effect.
Visit the Automated Vehicles project page to read the final report and recommendations.
Automated Vehicles
Current project status
We have published our report on automated vehicles.
Documents
Summary of automated vehicles: joint report
Automated Vehicles: joint report
Analysis of responses to Consultation Paper 3
All responses to Consultation Paper 3
The project
Our work began in 2018 when the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV) asked the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission to undertake a far-reaching review to enable the safe and responsible introduction of automated vehicles on GB roads and public places.
By automated vehicles we refer to vehicles that are capable of driving themselves without being controlled or monitored by an individual for at least part of a journey.
The project has involved three rounds of consultation. Between November 2018 and December 2020, we published three consultation papers and received a total of 404 written responses. We have also held more than 350 meetings with interested parties. We are extremely grateful to all those who contributed to this project, giving us so much of their time and expertise to help us formulate our recommendations.
On 26 January 2022 we published a joint report with the Scottish Law Commission with recommendations for legal reform.
Key recommendations
Throughout this project, we have strived to keep safety at the forefront of our proposals, while also retaining the flexibility required to accommodate future development.
Our recommendations cover initial approval and authorisation of self-driving vehicles, ongoing monitoring of their performance while they are on the road, misleading marketing, and both criminal and civil liability. They include:
- Writing the test for self-driving into law, with a bright line distinguishing it from driver support features, a transparent process for setting a safety standard, and new offences to prevent misleading marketing.
- A two-stage approval and authorisation process building on current international and domestic technical vehicle approval schemes and adding a new second stage to authorise vehicles for use as self-driving on GB roads.
- A new in-use safety assurance scheme to provide regulatory oversight of automated vehicles throughout their lifetimes to ensure they continue to be safe and comply with road rules.
- New legal roles for users, manufacturers and service operators, with removal of criminal responsibility for the person in the passenger seat.
- Holding manufacturers and service operators criminally responsible for misrepresentation or non-disclosure of safety-relevant information.
From consultation to report
In November 2018 we launched our first three-month consultation on safety assurance and legal liability. We published an analysis of responses and interim findings in June 2019.
In October 2020, our second consultation focused on highly automated road passenger services (HARPS), looking at how automated vehicles could be used to improve public transport. We published an analysis of responses and interim findings in May 2020.
Our third consultation was launched in December 2020 and drew on responses to both previous papers to formulate overarching proposals on the way forward. The closing date for responses was 18 March 2021. After analysing responses, we published all the responses received alongside a summary of responses and a draft Impact Assessment in July 2021. The full analysis of responses was published alongside our report, on 26 January 2022.
All our previous consultation papers, analysis documents and the full text of all responses received can be found at the bottom of this page, under the heading “Consultations and related documents”.
Next steps
The automated vehicles joint report has been laid before Parliament and the Scottish Parliament. The UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments will decide whether to accept our recommendations and introduce legislation to bring them into effect.
