Session 2023-24
Automated Vehicles Bill [HL]
Written Evidence submitted by Shoosmiths LLP (AVB02)
This submission is made by Ben Gardner, Partner, at Law Firm Shoosmiths LLP.
Shoosmiths is a law firm which has extensive experience and expertise in the automotive and mobility sectors. The firm acts across the entire ecosystem – advising OEMs, the supply chain, technology businesses, and disruptive new market entrants.
Ben is a lawyer specialising in automotive and mobility regulations. Ben sits on the SMMT Connected and Autonomous Vehicles Working Group, the Automotive Council Connected and Automated Mobility Steering Board, and the TechUK Self-Driving Vehicles Group.
In November 2022 Ben gave evidence to a House of Commons Transport Select Committee on the need for legislation to facilitate the development and commercialisation of automated vehicles in the UK. He regularly speaks at conferences and in the media on this subject.
Executive summary
· Creating a nascent connected and automated mobility sector within the UK could create huge economic and societal benefits for the UK. Regulation is currently viewed as a key obstacle to furthering the UK’s attractiveness to both domestic and international automotive and mobility business.
· The Bill will act as a key enabler to addressing the current regulatory gaps, grey areas, and uncertainties that are affecting both industry and the public confidence. It is the culmination of multiple years of research, development and industry engagement. It is detailed and well considered, with safety, integrity and transparency acting as fundamental and guiding principles throughout.
· Once the Bill comes into force, we will not see mass deployment of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) for some time. It is just a framework of principles which will require numerous regulations to be created to lay out more detailed requirements for matters such as approval, licensing, and data sharing. These regulations will involve further consultations with industry, other stakeholders, and the public – so the Bill presents no immediate safety or other concerns.
· The Bill plugs certain gaps in existing law that could be used by organisations to push products and services into the market which are not ready, could create incidents, and therefore undermine public confidence in the technology. The longer these gaps are left open, the higher the risk of incidents.
· The scope of the Bill could be broadened to cover other vehicles and use cases (such as logistics). Bringing other vehicles within scope would not require extensive amendments and would future proof the Bill – avoiding the need to pass a separate Act of Parliament at a later date and holding back other forms of mobility from being rolled out.
Main response
1. Shoosmiths welcomes the timely introduction of, and detailed content within, the Bill. For many years we have worked with international businesses that have been trying to navigate the gaps, grey areas, obstacles, and uncertainties that have been presented by technology developing at a much quicker pace than the law (in both the mobility and other sectors).
2. It is appreciated that creating and passing laws takes considerable time and investment, and choosing the correct time to legislate is both crucial and difficult. Now is the correct time for the UK to legislate: the Law Commissions’ reviews and recommendations are a well-considered and constructed set of guiding principles for responsible, safe, and transparent deployment of AVs in the UK.
3. CCAV and other contributors have done fantastically well bringing the Law Commission’s recommendations to life in the form of the Bill and it has received positive feedback from clients and governments we have presented it to across Europe, the US and further afield.
4. The Law Commission’s research and output spanned nearly five years. It included hundreds of detailed consultation responses from, and meetings with, industry and other stakeholders. It is therefore representative of the sum of the views of countless experts and thought leaders with in-depth knowledge on the subject matter. It is also reflective of the vast body of road traffic law which is has been developed within the UK over centuries and the findings from numerous trials which have taken place over the past decade.
5. In any event, once the Bill comes into force, we will not see mass deployment of AVs and resulting accidents. The Bill is just a framework of principles which will require numerous detailed regulations to be developed in order to layout the vast array of requirements which need to be considered – from minimum safety standards, to approval and licensing regimes, to data sharing and accident investigation. It is likely these regulations will not be completed until at least 2026 and in creating them there will be further consultations with industry, other stakeholders, and the public – to further build out an informed and validated set of rules.
6. Even when the regulations come into force, AVs will need to go through a rigorous approval regime before they can be deployed on public roads. If AV manufacturers and operators cannot meet the required level of safety (i.e. at least as competent and careful as a human driver and improving road safety overall) then we may not see AVs on public roads for some time. And when they are on the road, there will be in-use monitoring requirements to allow government to confirm safety principles are met and that overall road safety is improving. Otherwise, authorisations could be reversed, pending greater reassurance around overall safety.
7. The Bill contains important rules to allocate liability (for example to ASDEs and NUICs) and remove the uncertainty that could have existed if clarity was not introduced by a regulator. Likewise, the marketing offences will ensure that manufacturers and service providers are not misleading the public about the technical capability of an automated driving system.
8. Principles such as these are crucial to safe AV deployment. We are seeing accidents in other jurisdictions caused by a lack of regulation that is allowing organisations to use the grey areas and uncertainties that exist to operate and push products and services into the market which might not be sufficiently mature. The swift introduction of the Bill will help to maintain the UK’s AV safety record and facilitate more advanced deployment in a safe and sustainable way when the time is right.
9. It will give businesses and consumers increased confidence. Businesses will know the regulatory parameters within which they must operate, and consumers will understand that there is rigorous inspection, authorisation and accountability for businesses providing products and services in this space.
10. Notwithstanding this, we need to accept that there will still be accidents involving Avs. However, the intention is that the number of accidents will substantially reduce, and there have been numerous government-funded projects and research undertaken by AV manufacturers to demonstrate this to be the case. The technology is improving each day as the driving data gathered and capability of the available hardware, software and infrastructure continues to be enhanced.
11. In our view the frameworks and principles provided for in the Bill are appropriate and necessary. Safety underpins the Bill and it will give businesses clarity around expectations for AV deployment in the UK. The positions reached are so sensible that other jurisdictions may well look to replicate the regime that the UK has developed. Indeed, much work is underway at a European and International level.
12. One particular improvement which could be considered is to broaden the scope of the Bill to cover other vehicles and use cases. At present, it is drafted to only regulate road vehicles (supposedly traditional cars with self-driving systems fitted and shuttles that can be used to provide passenger transport services). There are of course other forms of vehicle and use case that exist (such as logistics). Bringing these vehicles within scope would not require extensive amendments and would future proof the Bill – allowing it to be a framework for other vehicles and uses in the future, instead of needing to create and pass a separate Act of Parliament later (which we know will take time and result in possible duplication of effort).
13. We appreciate this might be outside of the Bill’s intended scope and trying to "boil the ocean" could lead to further delays regarding regulation creation and implementation. However, bringing them into the framework of the Bill would still allow the government to focus on the nearer to market use cases that exist and are envisaged in the Bill as it is currently drafted.
14. The rationale for pushing the Bill through is an important one for the UK’s economic prosperity. The UK was a trailblazer in AVs in 2015 when it launched its regulatory review and code of practice. Since then, other countries have identified the economic opportunity and caught up with, if not overtaken, the UK. The introduction of the Bill will help to reposition the UK as a global leader in the AV sector which will create highly skilled jobs within the UK and lucrative economic opportunities. If done correctly, it will also improve road safety, productivity and reduce emissions. Please see the CAM Market Opportunities Report for more information. Regulation will be a key enabler in realising the opportunities that exist in this sector in a measured and safe way.