Motoring laws to be reviewed for driverless cars.

Driverless Cars and the Law

The prospect of travelling while a vehicle handles the driving is appealing. Passengers may eventually be able to work, read or relax rather than concentrate on the road. At the same time, automated taxis, buses and delivery vehicles could transform the way people and goods travel.

Driverless vehicles are no longer merely a prediction. The UK has introduced a detailed legal framework, and pilot services without an onboard safety driver can now be authorised on roads in Great Britain.

However, widespread use has not yet arrived. The full regulatory system under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is expected to be implemented during the second half of 2027.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024

The Automated Vehicles Act received Royal Assent on 20 May 2024. It provides the principal framework for authorising and regulating self-driving vehicles in England, Scotland and Wales.

The Act is intended to answer one of the most difficult questions raised by automated transport: who is legally responsible when the vehicle, rather than a human, is performing the driving task?

The legislation creates separate responsibilities for:

• The organisation responsible for the automated driving system
• The operator of a service without a driver inside the vehicle
• A human user who may be required to take control during part of a journey
• The owner and insurer of the vehicle

What Counts as a Self-Driving Vehicle?

A vehicle is not legally self-driving merely because it has cruise control, lane assistance, automatic parking or other advanced driver-assistance features.

To qualify under the new framework, a vehicle must be capable of travelling safely and legally without being controlled or monitored by a person who is expected to intervene immediately.

A vehicle may be authorised as self-driving only in specified circumstances. For example, a feature might be authorised:

• Only on motorways
• Only within a defined town or city
• Only during suitable weather
• Only below a specified speed
• Only on particular types of road

Outside those authorised conditions, the vehicle must be driven ordinarily.

Driver Assistance Is Not the Same as Self-Driving

Many vehicles already have features that can steer, brake or maintain speed. These are generally driver-assistance systems rather than legally authorised self-driving technology.

When using driver assistance, the human driver remains responsible for the vehicle, must monitor the road and must be ready to intervene immediately.

Drivers should not describe a vehicle as self-driving or stop paying attention merely because its marketing refers to automation, autopilot or assisted driving.

The Safety Standard

Before a vehicle can be authorised, the Secretary of State must be satisfied that its automated feature can drive safely and legally within its intended operating conditions.

The Act requires a Statement of Safety Principles to guide that assessment. The principles must be framed to improve road safety through the use of automated vehicles.

The regulatory system is expected to include:

• Technical vehicle approval
• Assessment of the automated driving system
• Authorisation for specified roads and conditions
• Continuing monitoring of vehicles after deployment
• Collection and examination of safety data
• Investigation of serious incidents
• Enforcement action where legal duties are breached

The government was consulting on the detailed safety principles and wider framework during 2026, ahead of full implementation.

Who Is Responsible When the Vehicle Is Driving?

Each authorised self-driving vehicle must have an authorised self-driving entity. This will usually be the manufacturer, software developer or another organisation responsible for the automated driving system.

The authorised self-driving entity is legally responsible for how the vehicle drives while the authorised feature is operating and for meeting continuing regulatory requirements.

If the vehicle commits a traffic infraction while legitimately driving itself, responsibility will generally move away from the human user and towards the responsible organisation and regulatory system.

The User-in-Charge

Some automated vehicles will still require a qualified person inside the vehicle because the self-driving feature can operate for only part of the journey.

While the automated feature is engaged, that person is known as the user-in-charge. They do not have to monitor the road continuously or control the vehicle's steering, braking or acceleration.

The user-in-charge must nevertheless:

• Hold the required driving licence
• Remain fit to drive
• Stay in a position where control can be taken
• Respond when the vehicle makes a valid request to take over
• Ensure that the vehicle is insured and roadworthy
• Ensure that loads are secure
• Ensure that children use appropriate seatbelts or restraints
• Remain responsible for matters such as parking and road charges

Taking Back Control

A vehicle that cannot complete the whole journey autonomously may issue a transition demand asking the user-in-charge to resume driving.

The request must provide a defined period in which control can be taken safely. The user is not normally responsible for the way the vehicle drives before that period expires.

Once the transition period has ended, the human may become responsible again. Ignoring a valid takeover request could therefore lead to criminal or civil liability.

A user-in-charge should not become so distracted, intoxicated, tired or otherwise impaired that they cannot take control when properly required.

Vehicles Without a Driver Inside

Some vehicles may operate without anyone inside who is capable of driving. Examples could include automated taxis, shuttles, delivery vehicles or freight services.

These services must have a licensed no-user-in-charge operator. The operator will oversee matters including:

• Vehicle location and operation
• Maintenance
• Insurance
• Responding to breakdowns and emergencies
• Communication with passengers and authorities
• Ensuring the service operates within its authorised area

Oversight does not necessarily mean that a remote operator is continuously steering the vehicle. The automated system itself must remain responsible for the driving task.

Public Passenger Services

Automated taxis, buses and shuttles carrying passengers require additional authorisation.

A permitting system has been established for pilot automated passenger services. It considers matters beyond the vehicle's technical capabilities, including passenger safety, accessibility, service management, and cooperation with local transport authorities.

During the pilot period, small-scale services without an onboard safety driver may be made available to members of the public in approved locations.

Current Trials and Pilots

Automated vehicle trials have taken place on British roads for several years.

Traditional trials require a safety driver who is ready, able and willing to take control. The safety driver must monitor the road and vehicle systems throughout the trial.

The newer pilot scheme is different. It allows approved vehicles to operate without an onboard safety driver, provided the vehicle, automated system, service and operator satisfy the applicable certification and permit requirements.

A pilot vehicle must still comply with roadworthiness, registration, approval, insurance and other legal requirements.

Remote Operation

Remote assistance may be used to support a vehicle that encounters an unusual situation, such as a blocked road or emergency incident.

There is an important difference between remote assistance and remote driving. Giving the automated system information or permission to choose a safe route is not necessarily the same as a person steering and braking the vehicle from another location.

Remote driving raises separate issues involving licensing, visibility, communications failures, jurisdiction and responsibility. It should not be assumed that a person can lawfully drive any ordinary vehicle remotely merely because the technology allows it.

What Happens After an Accident?

The insurance framework is intended to provide injured people with a direct route to compensation.

Where an accident is caused by an insured automated vehicle while it is driving itself, the insurer may be initially liable to compensate victims, including a person inside the vehicle who had legitimately handed control to the automated system.

The insurer may then seek to recover money from a manufacturer, software provider or other party legally responsible for the defect or failure.

Liability may be reduced or disputed where the owner or user:

• Made prohibited software alterations
• Failed to install a safety-critical update
• Used the automated feature outside its authorised conditions
• Ignored a valid request to take control
• Contributed to the accident through their own negligence

Software Updates and Cybersecurity

Automated vehicles depend heavily on software, sensors, maps and communications systems. Keeping the vehicle secure and updated will be an important legal responsibility.

An owner who knowingly fails to install a safety-critical update may affect their insurance protection and could be held responsible for resulting losses.

Manufacturers and responsible organisations will also be expected to protect vehicles against cyberattacks, identify vulnerabilities and provide accurate safety information to regulators.

Misleading Marketing

There is concern that drivers may misunderstand the ability of a vehicle because of terms such as "autonomous", "autopilot" or "self-driving".

The new framework allows restrictions to be placed on the use of protected terms. The aim is to ensure that only vehicles legally authorised to drive themselves are marketed as self-driving.

Until a vehicle is officially authorised, its driver-assistance features should be treated as assistance only, and the human driver remains responsible.

Traffic Offences

When a properly authorised vehicle is driving itself, the user-in-charge will generally have immunity from offences arising solely from the way the vehicle drives.

The responsible automated-driving organisation may instead face regulatory sanctions where the system:

• Exceeds the speed limit
• Passes a red light
• Uses a restricted lane
• Fails to comply with a traffic sign
• Otherwise drives unlawfully

The human user can remain responsible for offences unrelated to dynamic driving, including failing to insure the vehicle, carrying an unsafe load or leaving it parked unlawfully.

Incident Investigations

The new framework provides for independent safety investigations into incidents involving automated vehicles.

The purpose is not simply to identify someone to blame. Investigators will examine what happened, identify technical or organisational failures and make recommendations intended to prevent similar incidents.

Regulators will also be able to request information, inspect operating centres and impose sanctions where regulated organisations provide misleading information or fail to meet their duties.

Potential Safety Benefits

Human error contributes to many road collisions. Automated systems are not affected by drink, tiredness, distraction or impatience in the same way as human drivers.

Properly designed systems may therefore reduce accidents caused by:

• Speeding
• Mobile-phone use
• Fatigue
• Drink or drug driving
• Misjudgment
• Failure to see another road user

However, automated vehicles introduce different risks, including software faults, sensor limitations, cyberattacks and difficulty dealing with rare or unpredictable situations.

Accessibility

Driverless transport could provide greater independence for older people, disabled passengers and those who cannot hold a driving licence.

That benefit will depend on whether services are designed to be accessible. Vehicles, booking systems, passenger assistance and emergency procedures will need to accommodate people with different physical, sensory and communication needs.

Will Driverless Cars Create Jobs?

Automated transport could create employment in software development, engineering, cybersecurity, vehicle maintenance, mapping, fleet management and remote service support.

It may also reduce demand for some traditional driving roles. The overall employment effect will depend on how quickly the technology develops and whether it supplements or replaces existing transport services.

When Will Driverless Cars Be Widely Available?

Earlier predictions that driverless cars would be common by 2021 proved unrealistic.

Approved pilot services without onboard safety drivers can operate under the current pilot arrangements. Still, the main Automated Vehicles Act authorisation and regulatory framework is expected to be fully implemented in the second half of 2027.

Even after that date, deployment is likely to be gradual. Early services may operate only in defined areas and under limited road, speed and weather conditions.

Can You Work or Relax While the Car Drives?

Only where the vehicle and feature have been legally authorised as self-driving and are being used within the approved conditions.

In an authorised self-driving mode, a user-in-charge will not be required to monitor the road continuously. However, they must remain capable of taking control following a valid transition demand.

In a vehicle using ordinary driver assistance, the driver must continue watching the road and remain legally responsible. Reading, sleeping, working on a laptop or using a handheld telephone would be unsafe and may be unlawful.

The Current Position

The UK now has primary legislation designed specifically for self-driving vehicles, but important secondary legislation, safety principles and regulatory systems are still being completed.

The immediate position can be summarised as follows:

• The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is law
• Its main authorisation system is expected to operate fully from the second half of 2027
• Approved public pilots without an onboard safety driver can take place before full implementation
• Conventional trials still require a safety driver
• Driver-assistance systems do not make an ordinary vehicle legally self-driving
• The human driver remains responsible unless an authorised self-driving feature is properly engaged

Getting Legal Advice

Legal advice may be required following an automated vehicle collision, an insurance dispute, a prosecution, a product defect or disagreement about whether the vehicle was genuinely driving itself.

A solicitor specialising in road traffic, personal injury, insurance or product liability can advise on responsibility and compensation.

Disclaimer

Solicitors.com is not a firm of solicitors and does not provide legal advice. This page provides general information about automated vehicles in Great Britain. The regulatory framework is still being implemented, and the position may change as further regulations, guidance and authorised services are introduced.

Feedback

If you believe this page contains an error or requires updating, please get in touch with us. We welcome amendments that help keep our legal information accurate and useful.