Automated Vehicles Act 2024 – Driverless, but not directionless: the DfT consultation on automated vehicle safety

On 17 June 2026, the Department for Transport (DfT) and Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCaV) announced a consultation on a draft statement of safety principles for automated vehicles (AVs). 

This consultation, which runs until 9 September 2026, invites feedback from key industry stakeholder groups including road users, road safety groups, and self-driving vehicle businesses on ten proposed safety principles that will guide how self-driving vehicles are regulated before and after they are deployed on UK roads.

This article is the latest in our series tracking the progress of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 (the AV Act). Previous articles in the series can be located here and here.

Statement of Safety Principles 

The consultation is a significant milestone in the implementation of the AV Act and follows a previous call for evidence. In particular, the draft safety principles are designed to ensure that any AV permitted on UK roads is at least as safe as a “careful and competent” human driver and therefore, at the level of principle, to answer the often asked question: “How safe is safe enough?”. 

The draft Statement of Safety Principles (SoSPs) is a statutory requirement under Section 2 of the AV Act. The draft principles represent a “safety-first” approach that industry stakeholders will want to understand and refine. It will also inform how the performance of the self-driving fleet is assessed over time, once vehicles are deployed.

The draft SoSP sets out ten principles to provide a baseline for consultation based on behaviours associated with careful and competent driving identified through the call for evidence.  Namely, that self-driving vehicles should:

1. use the road in accordance with traffic laws and the Highway Code;

2. always maintain control over the vehicle;

3. predict, detect and respond to hazards proactively;

4. adapt driving to road and weather conditions;

5. behave in a predictable manner;

6. improve road safety in Great Britain for all;

7. interact safely with all road users, particularly vulnerable road users;

8. interact safely with emergency services;

9. only operate autonomously within the limits under which they are specifically designed to function; and

10. be designed to take account of the specificities of the territory where they will operate.

The statement of safety principles will help define the standard that automated vehicles must meet before they can be authorised for use on UK roads. For AV manufacturers, authorised self-driving entities, fleet operators other industry stakeholders, the consultation provides for a structured overview into the prospective regulatory framework. Associated principles identified in the call for evidence relating to cyber resilience and explainability, managing passenger safety risks and wellbeing, software updating and investigations and incident sharing and learning are to be picked up elsewhere in the emerging framework.

The consultation

The consultation is a crucial addition to the UK’s broader roadmap to enable safe autonomous transport, shaping the regulatory and safety framework on the operation of AVs on UK roads. It reinforces the legislative purpose in supporting innovation while prioritising public safety, transparency and accountability.

Members of the public, local authorities, organisations and anyone with an interest in road safety or AVs are invited to respond. 

The consultation closes on 9 September 2026. Further information on how to respond to it can be found here.

For further information or advice in relation to the consultation, please contact Brian Wong, Lucy Pegler, Zachary Bourne or your usual Burges Salmon contact.