New laws needed to tackle safety concerns over self-driving vehicles

MPs on the Transport Committee are calling for new legislation to tackle safety concerns over self-driving vehicles and urges caution about the speed of their deployment.

A series of recommendations on how the Government should approach their introduction to the UK’s roads have been made in a new report from the committee on the future of self-driving vehicles.

Transport Committee chair, Iain Stewart, said: “Thanks to the energy and creativity of the self-driving vehicles sector, the UK has a head start in developing a vision for how SDVs (self-driving vehicles) could be introduced. The Government’s strategy is one this committee broadly welcomes.  

“Self-driving vehicles are a great British success story in the making and we have a competitive advantage over many other countries.

“But all that hard work could be at risk if the Government doesn’t follow through and bring forward a Transport Bill in the next Parliamentary session, before the next general election.”  

The MPs say that the widespread take-up of self-driving vehicles faces various hurdles, including public confidence in their safety, security and their potential to have knock-on impacts on other road users.

“If the Government is going to meet its ambitions for self-driving vehicle deployment these knotty issues need to be addressed,” continued Stewart.  

“We believe the Government should take a cautious, gradual approach, with SDV technologies only initially introduced in well-defined contexts, or else we risk unintended consequences.”  

Government urged to legislate  

The Committee heard that current laws for self-driving vehicles are “archaic and limiting”, especially concerning testing and legal liability.

Witnesses told the committee during its inquiry that the sector is “crying out” for regulation.

The MPs commended the work of the Law Commissions and the Government in devising a new legal framework, Connected & Automated Mobility 2025. 

That framework has broad support, albeit with more detail needed in some areas, the committee says. This makes it disappointing that the Government has not committed to legislating in this Parliament to put this framework in place.    

The committee urges Government to pass comprehensive legislation in the next parliamentary session to put in place the robust regulatory framework it promised. This should cover vehicle approvals, liability for accidents, cybersecurity, and the use of personal data.

Failing to do so, it says, will do significant and lasting damage both to the UK's self-driving industry and the country's reputation as a trailblazer. 

The committee adds that, while it is widely assumed that self-driving vehicles will prove safer than human drivers, this is not a given.

The committee heard that optimistic predictions often rely on self-driving vehicles becoming widely used on UK roads, which could be decades away, or assertions about human error that ignore other risks.

Safety must remain the Government’s overriding priority as self-driving vehicles encounter real-world complexity.

Given this, MPs question the Government's proposed ‘safety ambition’ – that self-driving vehicles will be “expected to achieve an equivalent level of safety to that of a competent and careful human driver” – believing it is “too weak and too vague”.

The Government should set a clearer, more stretching threshold, it says.  

Greater automation will reduce time spent driving, leading to concerns that drivers may become less practised and therefore less skilled over time, it suggests.

Conversely, the requirement for drivers to be ready to take manual control of a vehicle means a risk of facing challenging scenarios with little notice.

The committee recommends that Government should set out a strategy for the future of human driving in a world of self-driving vehicles. This should include possible changes to driving tests and a plan to ensure all drivers fully understand the technology.

The committee also argues this should not impose new responsibilities on other road users and pedestrians or make them less safe.   

Cybersecurity, road worthiness and legal liability  

The MPs also conclude that self-driving vehicles pose cybersecurity risks because of their connected rather than automated capabilities.

This, the committee says, poses new dangers, which the law must evolve to meet. A safety-led culture will require wide access to data.  

It argues that ensuring self-driving vehicles are roadworthy will be more complicated than for conventional vehicles as there is more that can go wrong.

Legal liability also becomes more complex as it is shared between owner and vehicle software operators. This may cause problems for the insurance industry.

The Government explained broadly how its new regulatory regime will work but accepted that more thinking was needed about how this will work in practice.  The Committee urges the Government to take a lead on these issues.  

What infrastructure will be needed?   

Self-driving vehicles will need well-maintained roads – an issue many road users already feel should be a high priority – as well as 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, the committee says that these preparations are too siloed and divorced from broader planning.

If the Government is serious about self-driving vehicles, it should ensure meeting their needs is an integral part of future infrastructure strategy, it adds.   

How could self-driving vehicles be used? 

The committee heard there is a range of possible uses for self-driving vehicles, including with HGVs, buses, taxis and private cars.

It believes that, in time, they have the potential to improve connectivity and provide significant benefits for safety and productivity in industries such as logistics.    

However, the Government must take a cautious, gradual approach with the technology introduced only in well-defined and appropriate contexts.

As such, the committee broadly welcomes the Government’s strategy set out in August 2022. However, without careful handling, there are concerns that self-driving vehicles could worsen congestion and exacerbate inequalities in transport access if, for example, self-driving private hire vehicles are unable to offer the same assistance to disabled people as human-driven ones.

Government must ensure the introduction of self-driving vehicles is responsive to the wider population and meets the UK’s transport policy objectives, which are the subject of a separate inquiry by the Transport Committee.  

Jack Cousens, head of roads policy for the AA, said: “The prospect of fully self-driving cars was once in the realms of sci-fi, but with the right regulations they could be coming to a street near you.

"However, road authorities will have to be more meticulous with the condition of the roads, particularly markings and signage that are critical for a self-driving car to navigate. Skimping on maintenance schedules to save money won’t be an option.

“As more technology comes as standard on cars, further changes will need to be made to ensure their safe use such as modernising the driving test. Following the boom in sat-navs, the practical test was updated to include a section on independent driving using a sat-nav so new drivers were taught how to use them correctly.

“Car technology is evolving all the time and many driver assistance technologies such as adaptive cruise control and lane keep assist are firm favourites. While these tools are widely accepted, the mindset of drivers changes when they are asked to consider relinquishing control to a fully self-driving car.

"Drivers are nervous about a road network consisting of both fully autonomous cars driving alongside cars with humans behind the wheel, but with education, training and rigorously tested technology people may be persuaded to let the car do the driving.”

Tom Leggett, vehicle technology specialist at risk intelligence company Thatcham Research, welcomed the Transport Committee report. 

He said: “It encourages the Government to embrace self-driving technology cautiously and gradually, ensuring that the focus is on safe implementation, legal clarity and public acceptance. This can only be achieved by a unified approach by vehicle manufacturers, Government and insurers.

“While self-driving vehicles are expected to be safer than human drivers, there is a call for more stringent safety standards. Comparing self-driving cars to competent human drivers is considered insufficient. A more transparent and demanding threshold for safety is advocated and Thatcham Research would echo this assertion.

“The question of 'how safe, is safe enough?' has long been a point of contention, and if the safety case is the primary benefit of self-driving vehicles, then this should be reflected in the Government’s ambitions for the future of transport. The UK is well positioned to lead the world in this endeavour, but it will only be achievable with data transparency.”

The report also states that “ safety-led culture will require wide access to data, and this must be a higher priority than commercial confidentiality”.

Leggett continueD: “It is of huge significance that the report prioritises data access for all stakeholders.

"Thatcham Research has long called for a centrally held data repository to enable a fully transparent understanding of collision cause and effect, something which will also be vital to building trust and smoothing the path to consumer adoption.

“Widespread data access is also crucial for safety and the resolution of complex legal liability arrangements shared between vehicle owners and operators.

“In addition, Thatcham Research welcomes the report’s acknowledgments relating to the complexities of legal liability – especially as we move through the stages of automation to fully self-driving vehicles. As the driver hands more and more control to the vehicle, absolute clarity is required regarding their legal responsibilities.

“The self-driving vehicle sector in the UK is regarded as a success story driven by various stakeholders' energy, creativity, and expertise.

"However, we would also support the report’s call for the urgent introduction of comprehensive legislation to protect the UK’s reputation as a forerunner in the safe adoption of self-driving vehicles, with ongoing reviews and updates to keep pace with evolving technology.”