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Driverless Vehicles: Artificial Intelligence

Asked by Chris BlooreLabourDepartment for TransportTabled Answered 20 April 2026UIN 126274

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking with the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology to help support the safe deployment of artificial intelligence in autonomous vehicles.

Answered by Simon Lightwood

Safety is central to the implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, with a requirement that the introduction of self-driving vehicles to Great Britain’s roads must seek to contribute to an overall improvement road safety. The regulatory approach is outcome-focussed and technology neutral, ensuring that where AI is used, it contributes to rigorous safety standards.

The UK co-chairs a group at the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), looking at AI use-cases in vehicle technology and how any associated risks can be managed or mitigated. This is in addition to mandating international vehicle cyber-security requirements that the UK helped develop.

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