Professor Siddartha Khastgir, Head of Verification and Validation at WMG, University of Warwick, comments on the Government’s plans to introduce the primary legislation for automated vehicles in the upcoming parliamentary session, as announced in the King’s Speech today (Tuesday 7th November).

Professor Khastgir said: ‘‘We welcome the Government’s decision to introduce the primary legislation on automated vehicles in the King’s Speech today. Following on from the discussions at the AI Safety Summit last week, this very first legislation on AI-powered technology is an important step for the UK to reach its target of rolling out automated cars in 2025.

“Regulation is the key enabler for the safe introduction of automated vehicles on UK roads. Not only does it provide regulatory certainty for the industry, but it is also key to setting high safety thresholds and gaining the public’s trust. We urge the Government to ensure that the regulatory framework is robust and underpinned by strong research outcomes. International and national self-driving standards should be built upon when creating this legislation.

“We also urge the Government to speed up the secondary legislation on automated vehicles to provide more information on the engineering requirements. The Government needs to ensure public views are incorporated into this legislative journey and take future users’ viewpoints into account. As a result, along with the legislation, a public awareness programme should be introduced to ensure an accurate understanding of the capabilities and limitations of this emerging technology. The Government needs to act quickly to be at the forefront of this technology.

“WMG will continue to fully support the Government and the eco-system to develop research and evidence-based self-driving regulation in the UK.’’

Find out more about WMG’s Verification and Validation research here: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/wmg/research/cav/vandv/