The UK’s Department for Transport (DfT) yesterday published plans that will see traffic laws change to allow for hands-free driving as early as spring next year. The move is being hailed as a major step towards fully driverless cars becoming a common sight on British roads over coming years.
Details of the planned changes to traffic laws published yesterday refer to “lane keeping” technology. The proposals would mean drivers of vehicles with appropriate autonomous technology would be permitted to leave it to “carry out the driving task”, without human input under specific conditions.
The conditions that drivers will be able to relinquish control will initially be restricted to motorways and dual carriageways where there are no pedestrians and cyclists, nor the potential for traffic to come from directions.
Many newer models of cars are already sold with ‘lane assist’ technology, which alerts the driver with an alarm or vibrating wheel should the start to drift out of their lane. The new rules would allow the technology to steer the vehicle, keeping it on a steady course. However, drivers will still be ultimately responsible for the vehicle and any accident. They should be ready to take back control immediately should the situation require it.
The document yesterday published by the DfT raises the possibility of responsibility for the safety of hands-free driving at some point being transferred from driver to car manufacturers, when autonomous systems are engaged. This requires a change of legal definition of cars with autonomous capabilities as “automated vehicles”.
The proposals describe the need for automated vehicles to retain “driver availability and attentiveness monitoring”, designed to prevent drivers falling asleep at the wheel. However, the wording leaves room for the possibility of allowing drivers to do other things while automated systems are engaged.
The lane assist technology many new cars are now sold with is not as advanced as new automated lane keeping technology that the DfT is rewriting the rule book for. The more advanced technology was approved for use in June by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, which the UK is a member of. The newer technology could now be a feature of new cars sold from next spring onwards.
AA president Edmund King commented on the news yesterday:
the potential to make our roads even safer in the future.”
RAC Foundation director Steve Gooding added:
“It is good news that the vehicles to be fitted with this advanced level of automation are also likely to have multiple monitoring systems generating data about the car and what’s going on around it — making that data available will be crucial for those involved in investigating collisions which they might have caused, but in which they could still be involved.”
The DfT’s proposals will pass through a formal consultation planned for the end of this year. That consultation will result in details on proposed changes to the Highway Code and secondary legislation.
Rachel Maclean, transport minister for the UK commented:
“Automated technology could make driving safer, smoother and easier for motorists and the UK should be the first country to see these benefits, attracting manufacturers to develop and test new technologies”.
“The UK’s work in this area is world leading and the results from this call for evidence could be a significant step forward for this exciting technology.”