techUK responds to new regulatory framework for AVs

The Government will today publish its long-awaited regulatory framework to enable the deployment of AVs in the UK by 2025.

This comes in response to the Law Commission’s recommendations for a new framework, published in January this year. The Government has also announced a new consultation on the safety ambition for AVs.

techUK called for the development and legislation of a deployment framework in our position paper published in 2021. 

Commenting on today’s announcement, Matthew Evans, Director of Markets, says:

"Today’s announcement will give the industry the confidence boost it needs to invest, grow, and innovate here in the UK.

“Safety runs at the core of automated driving, and we welcome the Government’s decision to launch a new consultation on this topic. We look forward to engaging with this process and continuing the positive dialogues which are already underway between industry, regulators and the wider public.

“We have an opportunity to be a world-leader in the development of this exciting technology but as things stand the EU and several other jurisdictions are significantly ahead of us in terms of testing and regulation. We will work with the Government to ensure it can meet its 2025 timeline to protect UK competitiveness in this market and help deliver transformative changes to how we transport people and goods.”

Today also sees the publication of a new report from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) which sets out proposals for a trustworthy approach to the regulation of AVs. This is also backed by an additional £100m investment into CCAV.

techUK’s members are not only already developing exciting use-cases on SAE level 4 automated systems across the country, including in public transport and commercial vehicle applications, but contributing to the development and deployment of any necessary supporting infrastructure. In partnership with our members, we will now consider the Government’s framework in detail to ensure what is proposed supports innovation and deployment.

The move to autonomy is a journey which we embark on as a collective. techUK will continue to bridge the gap between industry and government to enable a platform for exchanging views and ideas to optimise conditions and help deliver this exciting technology in the smoothest way possible.

Please contact [email protected] if you would like to know more about our work regarding AVs.