Automated Vehicles Bill half-way to becoming UK law

Leo Parkington and David Thorneloe of Pinsent Masons were commenting after the Automated Vehicles Bill passed from the House of Lords to the House of Commons, for further scrutiny by MPs.

The Automated Vehicles Bill is designed as framework legislation, aimed at establishing high level principles and powers for the UK government to make regulations in future to set out the details of regulatory requirements for self-driving cars before they can be used. Among other things, it provides for a new authorisation regime under which self-driving vehicles would have to pass a “self-driving test” and satisfy a range of safety standards before they could be used on UK roads.

The Bill broadly reflects proposals developed by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission, which were outlined by the bodies following their extensive review of existing road traffic legislation in the UK and consideration of the changes needed to provide for the safe and legal use of self-driving vehicles on UK roads. The review lasted four years.

Entirely new concepts that the Law Commission recommended be established are provided for in the Bill. This includes the concepts of an ‘Authorised Self-Driving Entity’, which is an entity that is responsible for vehicles when in an autonomous mode; a ‘user-in-charge’, which is an individual in charge of a vehicle in autonomous mode who is in position to control it but is not controlling it; and ‘transition demands’ – a timed demand, communicated by equipment of a vehicle, requiring the user-in-charge to assume control of the vehicle.

The Bill sets out government powers to adapt existing type-approval regulations to set specific vehicle safety standards for self-driving vehicles and establish licencing schemes for wholly autonomous vehicle journeys. It also provides the government with regulatory and enforcement powers – including the ability to conduct broad investigations if a self-driving car is found to be involved in a road traffic incident.

The Bill further provides for the modification of road traffic offences, so that they apply to the context of self-driving vehicles as they would apply to the driver of a standard car, and it contains restrictions to prevent misleading marketing of self-driving cars.

While the Bill enjoyed broad support in the Lords, some peers felt it did not go far enough. For example, concerns were raised that Bill does not facilitate the use of automated delivery units on pavements.

The Lords also intervened in relation to clause two of the Bill – an important provision that gives the government the power to make a statement setting out in detail the safety principles that self-driving cars must meet in order to be authorised. The Lords decided that such principles must be framed with a view to securing that authorised automated vehicles will achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers and bettering road safety in Great Britain. This is the highest of three potential standards recommended by the Law Commissions and, as one peer put it, eliminates the possibility of safety standards for self-driving vehicles being set with reference to “distracted, drowsy, drunk, drugged and disqualified” drivers.

The Lords further strengthened the clause two provisions by requiring the government to consult the motor industry and road safety groups on the statement and by making the statement subject to debates in, and votes of approval by, both the Commons and Lords.

Opposition Labour peers tabled an amendment to establish an independent Advisory Council on the roll-out of self-driving cars. That amendment was defeated, however, in a close vote, which the government won by just four votes.

The Lords also debated whether the law should assume that accidents are caused by automated vehicle unless proved otherwise. However, they determined that moving the burden of proof in this way was outside the scope of the legislation and should be considered if challenges emerge in settling claims in real-world use-cases.

The next stage of the Bill’s passage through the UK parliament is its second reading in the Commons, scheduled to take place on 5 March 2024. If further changes are made to the Bill in the Commons, it will need to return briefly to the Lords for those changes to be approved. The Bill is expected to be passed and become law within a few months.

Leo Parkington, expert in commercial contracts in the automotive sector, said: “The Bill establishes a framework of principles, powers and standards that seek to mark the foundations of Britain’s autonomous vehicles legislation. Operators in the industry will be closely monitoring the progress of this Bill and should familiarise themselves with the core concepts introduced as these concepts will form the basis of government regulations in this area for the foreseeable future.”

David Thorneloe, expert in legislation and government, said: “The Bill has broad, cross-party support, and is unlikely to see significant changes in the House of Commons, given the large majority the government holds there. However, there is still an opportunity for industry to engage and influence the debate by focussing on issues of interest to MPs in all the main parties.”

“The Bill paves the way for a mass of detailed new regulations from the government in the next few years on self-driving cars. It will be crucial for industry to keep abreast of these developments and engage in the government consultations to come,” he added.