Operation of vehicles remotely
6 September 2022
Following on from our article ‘Who’s in the driver’s seat? Liability in automated vehicles’ (from our Winter 2021 Motor Matters newsletter), the Law Commission’s joint report with recommendations was published in January 2022. In June 2022 the Law Commission published an issues paper asking for views on various options for regulating remote driving on public roads.
The Law Commission focuses on remote driving such as from a remote operations centre (which could even be in another country) and related safety challenges, such as how safety risks can be mitigated, if connectivity is lost etc. The Law Commission’s paper was informed by how other countries regulate remote driving including the likes of Japan, Germany, Finland, the United States and Australia. Views have now been submitted to the Law Commission,with the Law Commission then proposing to publish its advice regarding reform options for remote driving to the UK Government in early 2023.
This sits in the context of the Government’s vision to spearhead the UK as a global leader in the self-driving revolution – with the aims of improving road safety and boosting the economy by creating an estimated 38,000 new jobs from a predicted £42 billion industry. This vision is backed by a Government commitment for £100m to support investment and research into safety developments.
The Government vision targets self-driving vehicles on UK roads by 2025 – and whilst some self-driving vehicles could be operating on UK motorways in the next year, many market commentators expect that in practice the timescale for mass adoption will take far longer.
For more information please contact Mark Gipson.
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Mark Gipson
Sectors
The content of this article is for general information only. It is not, and should not be taken as, legal advice. If you require any further information in relation to this article please contact the author in the first instance. Law covered as at September 2022.