With autonomous vehicles that could arrive on British roads later this year, the government is starting to put rules in place to accommodate them, the BBC reported. As part of this, it will allow drivers of autonomous vehicles to watch TV in autonomous driving mode from an infotainment screen as long as they are ready to regain control. This is an amendment to a law that has been in place since 1986 and prohibits drivers from watching a “television receiver” while driving. There are currently no autonomous vehicles listed for use in the UK. This information is therefore not yet available on the DVLA vehicle inspector. Check if a vehicle is listed as autonomous for use in the UK. The danger is that being labeled as an “autonomous driving” feature will make drivers overconfident. The road to full autonomy comes with many technical and regulatory challenges – and the hardest part of the journey is where drivers can start taking over the car while remaining vigilant. “It`s still a big leap from assisted driving, where the driver is always in control, to autonomous driving, where the car takes control,” said Edmund King, president of AA, a British car association.
“It is important that the government consider how these vehicles would interact with other road users on different roads and in changing weather conditions. However, the ultimate price to pay to save thousands of lives and improve the mobility of older and less mobile people is worth pursuing. According to details released by the UK government (Opens in new window), “manufacturers are responsible for the actions of the vehicle when driving themselves, meaning that a human driver will not be held responsible for driving incidents while the vehicle controls driving.” Drivers could also be allowed to watch TV in their car once fully self-driving cars are introduced, provided they regain control of the car when asked. But most importantly, they cannot use their mobile phones. This is because manufacturers can implement a system that automatically disables the content displayed on the infotainment screen when the driver needs to regain control, forcing him to turn his attention to the road. You cannot monitor a separate portable device. The UK government has predicted that autonomous driving technologies “could improve road safety across the UK by reducing human error, contributing to 88% of all recorded road accidents”. Meanwhile, however, autonomous driving technology has gone nowhere in recent years, with a few exceptions like GM`s Cruise, which offers driverless public taxi rides in San Francisco. Following a consultation last year, the government has now stated that vehicles with ALKS technology can be legally defined as autonomous “as long as they receive British type-approval and there is no evidence to challenge the vehicle`s ability to drive itself.” If a vehicle has been registered as autonomous, you need to understand how to use the vehicle`s features and identify those who are able to drive themselves before activating them. There are currently no autonomous vehicles listed for use in the UK.
The Minister of Transport will publish a list of vehicles considered autonomous. The list of autonomous vehicles is published on this page. In an autonomous vehicle, at least in certain circumstances, it is certain that the driver delegates control of the vehicle to the autonomous driving function and no longer monitors the road. “This is an important step towards the safe deployment of autonomous vehicles in the UK, which will make future journeys greener, easier and more reliable, while helping the country build better,” said Transport Secretary Rachel Maclean. The Ministry of Transport has already said that self-driving cars could be ready to be released by the end of 2022. One of the first systems on the roads will be the Automated Lane Keeping System (ALKS), which can control the position of the vehicle in a single lane. However, cars equipped with the technology are limited to only 37 mph (60 km/h) and must pass british type approval. The self-driving car industry and the UK government share a sunny optimism about progress towards our future of autonomous driving – but in recent years, many of their predictions have not materialised. A new section of the Highway Traffic Act clarifies the responsibilities of drivers and the rules for using autonomous vehicles. If the legislative commissions get what they want, yes.
But whether the car will pay the fines is a whole other question. The proposal suggests that people sitting in the driver`s seat are safe from prosecution for offences such as exceeding the speed limit or driving above red lights when the car`s autonomous driving system is active. That`s because they don`t drive anymore – they would be a “user in charge”. But that could soon change. The legal committees of England, Wales and Scotland published a joint report in early 2022 recommending the introduction of a new law on automated vehicles. The law will provide a framework for separating cars into two camps – those that can drive themselves and those that have technologies to help the driver, such as adaptive cruise control. Self-driving cars could be put into service on britain`s major motorways in the next year before they launch in 2025, but people won`t be responsible for accidents that occur when the vehicle is under control, under the proposed regulations.