UK asks for views on safety principles for self-driving vehicles

UK asks for views on safety principles for self-driving vehicles

17 June 2026: The Department for Transport has launched a statutory consultation on the draft statement of safety principles that will guide whether an automated vehicle may be deployed on roads in England, Scotland and Wales. A minister's written statement to Parliament and a separate press release both appeared on the day, and they do not describe the safety bar in the same words.

Two descriptions of the bar

The written statement from Simon Lightwood says the standard behind the principles is that automated vehicles should reach a level of safety "equivalent to at least that of careful and competent human drivers", which it says is consistent with the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 and with international UNECE regulations.

The press release is bolder: "the safety bar is high: self-driving vehicles must meet a higher standard than the average human driver", and technology "could cut out human error altogether". A careful and competent driver and an average driver are not the same yardstick, and the final statement will have to settle on one. Anyone reading the consultation text rather than the news coverage will need to check which wording it uses.

Five themes of behaviour

The draft principles are built on behaviours the government considers consistent with a careful and competent driver. They cover five broad themes: vehicle control; hazard anticipation, perception and reaction; obeying traffic rules; interaction with other road users; and adaptability to road conditions.

There are also principles specific to automated vehicles, such as operating only within an authorised domain. The Secretary of State is to use the statement when deciding whether a vehicle can be deployed and when monitoring authorised vehicles. It may also guide whether the in-use regulator investigates an incident and what sanctions follow.

Who was asked and for how long

Section 2(3) of the Act requires consultation with organisations representing road users, road safety groups and self-driving businesses. The press release widened the invitation to the public, industry, accessibility organisations and local authorities. The written statement says the consultation would run until September 2026, and the press release gives the date as 9 September 2026.

Alongside the draft, the government published its analysis of responses to last year's call for evidence on how the statement could be used, described and measured, and a research report on public perceptions of automated vehicle safety. The consultation was laid as a command paper in both Houses.

What happens next

Subject to the outcome, the statutory statement will be laid before Parliament next year for approval. The consultation sits beside the passenger pilot scheme that opened the previous month, in which operators must show that their systems meet stringent safety standards and are protected against cyber threats.

The press release repeats the government's figure that drivers contribute to 88 percent of reported road collisions and says the sector could unlock billions of pounds for the economy by 2035, according to 2020 estimates. No numeric performance threshold appears in either of the two pages.

Update, 22 October 2026: The consultation document itself, published on 17 June and closed on 9 September, uses the Act's wording: automated vehicles should "achieve a level of safety equivalent to or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers". The "average human driver" phrasing appears only as one option the Law Commissions considered, not as the draft standard.

Related on TrustList:

• Britain opens applications for self-driving taxi and bus pilots

Sources

• GOV.UK (CCAV, Department for Transport): New consultation on draft statutory statement of safety principles for automated vehicles, 17 June 2026
• GOV.UK (Department for Transport): Public invited to have their say on self-driving vehicle safety, 17 June 2026
• Department for Transport: Automated vehicles statement of safety principles, consultation - 17 June 2026