Remote driving law advice released by Law Commission
Advice to the UK Government on how to regulate remote driving on public roads has been published by the Law Commission for England & Wales.
Remote driving technology enables a person to drive a vehicle from a remote location, as opposed to vehicles being programmed to drive themselves. It has seen rapid advancements in recent years, and is already used in controlled environments such as warehouses and farms. It could involve a driver in an operation centre using several screens and a control system to direct a vehicle on the road.
Potential applications on public roads include delivering rental cars to customers’ doors. The technology may also be used in trials of self-driving vehicles. Whereas most UK trials of self-driving vehicles have an in-vehicle “safety driver”, there is increasing interest in using remote driving technology to enable the safety driver to be located elsewhere.
The Law Commission’s advice, following a review commissioned by the Department for Transport and the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles – calls for both short term changes to the law to respond to emerging safety concerns, and a new regulatory regime to govern remote driving on roads in the longer term.
Safety challenges considered in the review include establishing reliable connectivity, driver situational awareness, a possible sense of “detachment” from the physical world, and cybersecurity – such as the threat of a terrorist seizing control of a vehicle.
The Commission concludes in its advice that remote driving on roads and public places should only be allowed if companies obtain special permissions. Further, in the event of an accident with remotely driven vehicles, all victims should be protected by automatic compensation from insurers. Individual remote drivers would be responsible for their driving in the same way as in-vehicle drivers, but not for any faults beyond their control, such as those due to connectivity problems.
The advice is largely modelled on the Commission’s 2022 recommendations on autonomous vehicles, which the Government has used as part of its plans to roll out self-driving cars by 2025.
A gap in the law at present, the Commission states, is that there is no express prohibition on using remote driving technology where the driver is beyond line of sight – clarity in the law is urgently required, and a new prohibition measure could be brought in immediately. Companies wanting to use remote driving on roads, without an in-vehicle safety driver, could submit a safety case and apply for a special permit.
Public law commissioner Nicholas Paines KC commented: "Remote driving is an exciting technology, but before we see remotely operated cars on UK roads, we must address safety concerns through strong regulation.
"Our advice concludes that in the immediate term, the Government would be able to address some gaps in the law around remote driving using existing powers, while also providing a path for companies to use the technology lawfully provided that their systems are safe. In the longer term, it could set up a full system of remote driving regulation.
"Regulations must respond to other fundamental concerns around security threats and liability in the event of an accident. Our advice paper sets out a roadmap for how the Government can address these problems, whilst also encouraging companies to innovate."
Transport Minister Jesse Norman said her department would carefully consider the recommendations.