Government safety ambition for self-driving vehicles is “too weak”
The Government’s safety ambition for self-driving vehicles (SDVs) to replicate the performance of a competent and careful human driver is too weak, the Transport Committee has said.
As reported by Fleet News , he Transport Committee called for a clearer threshold and definition for its safety ambition but the Government has now rejected this recommendation.
Instead it says it intends to publish a statutory Statement of Safety Principles which will be used in the assessment of the safety of self-driving vehicles.
Iain Stewart, chair of the Transport Committee, said: “We remain concerned that the Government’s ambition for how safe SDVs should be may end up being too weak and too vague and that a more fleshed out, stronger threshold should be set out.
“We applaud the Government for staying ahead of our international competitors and bringing forward the Automated Vehicles Bill.
“It is also welcome that DfT is taking a serious look at other practical considerations around educating and training drivers, improving digital infrastructure and having regard for the wellbeing of other road users, including those with accessibility needs. However, we await more detail on those points.