King's speech: government will accelerate autonomous driving laws in UK

Sarah Gates, director of Wayve, a London-based AI start-up developing self-driving technology, called the pledge “an incredibly important milestone for the entire self-driving industry”.

“The new Automated Vehicles Bill will enact a comprehensive liability framework for the safe deployment of self-driving vehicles, including crucial protection for consumers,” she added.

Tara Fole, the UK and Ireland CEO of insurer Axa, said the bill “has huge potential to save lives” and that “for insurers, it also provides crucial clarity for establishing liability for self driving”.

Get UK’s road ready ahead of self-driving vehicles

The bill pledge has also been used as a call to fix the UK’s roads ahead of the arrival of this next generation of vehicles.

“If we’re ever to truly realise the benefits of autonomous technology, we have to sort out the state of our roads once and for all,” said Williams.

“It’s hard to fathom how driverless cars will be able to safely navigate our streets when so many road markings are faded, and then there’s the prospect of vehicles getting needlessly damaged by the UK’s pothole plague, as they surely won’t be programmed to avoid them.”

His point was backed by King: “Government plans to improve everyday journeys requires a greater focus on dealing with the number-one issue raised by 96% of AA members: potholes and road condition.”

What needs to be in the UK’s self-driving bill?

The UK’s cross-party Transport Committee said ministers needed to legislate before the next general election because the current laws for self-driving vehicles (SDVs) are “archaic and limiting”.

Transport Committee chairman Iain Stewart said: “Self-driving vehicles [SDVs] 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.

“Widespread take-up of SDVs face 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. 

“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.”  

MPs have questioned the government's proposed "safety ambition" that autonomous vehicles will be “expected to achieve an equivalent level of safety to that of a competent and careful human driver”, believing it's “too weak and too vague”.

The committee also said the government should set out a strategy for the future of human driving in a world of SDVs, including possible changes to driving tests and a plan to ensure all drivers fully understand SDVs.

Legal liability in SDVs will become more complex, because it’s shared between owner and vehicle software operators. The committee has recommended the government thinks more about this.