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Driverless Vehicles: Safety

Asked by Ben LakePlaid CymruDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 7 January 2026UIN 101793

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether her Department has had discussions with Tesla UK regarding the potential child safety implications of vehicle-integrated artificial intelligence systems.

Answered by Simon Lightwood

The Department for Transport has not had discussions with Tesla specifically regarding potential child safety implications of vehicle-integrated artificial intelligence (AI) systems.

Many manufacturers use AI tools and techniques to develop and optimise various aspects of vehicles, including their safety systems. For those aspects covered by vehicle technical regulations, the systems are required to be fixed (i.e. they are no longer permitted to evolve) before they are placed on the market and subject to objective testing to verify their performance.

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