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‘Archaic’ UK law needs urgent update for self-driving vehicles, MPs say
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15 Sep 2023, 3:06 pm
The UK’s reputation as a “trailblazer” in the development of self-driving vehicles is at risk unless new laws are passed as a matter of urgency to better support their testing and commercialisation, a committee of MPs has said.
In a report published on Friday, the Transport Committee described current UK laws for self-driving vehicles as “archaic and limiting, especially concerning testing and legal liability”.
To remain competitive on the global stage, we need regulatory action that will give businesses and other institutions the confidence to test, develop and commercialise self-driving vehicles in the UK – and not elsewhere
In its paper, the Committee acknowledged the work that has been done to prepare the groundwork for a new legal framework – which included a comprehensive review undertaken by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission into road traffic legislation and subsequent recommendations for reform – but said it was “deeply disappointing that the government will not commit to legislating in this parliament” to implement those recommendations.
The Committee said: “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 bring forward and pass comprehensive legislation in the next parliamentary session to put in place the robust regulatory framework it promised. Failing to do so will do significant and lasting damage both to the UK’s self-driving vehicle industry and to this country’s reputation as a trailblazer.”
“We recommend that legislation be brought forward as a matter of urgency, with an expectation that any legislation will have to be regularly reviewed and updated subsequently as technology evolves,” it said.
Ben Gardner of Pinsent Masons, a specialist in the regulation of self-driving vehicles and the future of mobility who gave evidence to the Transport Committee’s inquiry, said the UK is in a global race with other countries to attract investment into the self-driving vehicle industry.
“For self-driving vehicles, current transport laws cannot keep up with the pace of technological change,” Gardner said. “This is creating legal gaps and grey areas and could hold back the development of the UK’s automotive and mobility sector – and the economic and societal benefits that self-driving vehicles could eventually bring. To remain competitive on the global stage, we need regulatory action that will give businesses and other institutions the confidence to test, develop and commercialise self-driving vehicles in the UK – and not elsewhere.”
The UK government had previously said it intended to take forward the Law Commissions’ proposals in a new Transport Bill and that this would happen before the end of the summer 2023.
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