The Automated Vehicles Act explained in plain English

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is the law that will decide when a car can legally drive itself on British roads, and who is responsible when it does. Here is what it says, without the legal jargon.

Where the Act came from

In 2018 the government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles asked the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission to review the law on automated vehicles. After three rounds of public consultation, the two commissions published a joint report with recommendations on 26 January 2022 (Law Commission). The Act puts those recommendations into law and sets the legal framework for self-driving vehicles in Great Britain (Explanatory Notes). It received Royal Assent on 20 May 2024 (GOV.UK).

The self-driving test

At the heart of the Act is a legal test. A vehicle “satisfies the self-driving test” if it is designed to travel autonomously and can do so “safely and legally” (section 1). Travelling autonomously means two things at once:

the vehicle is controlled by its own equipment, not by a person; and
nobody is monitoring the vehicle or the road with a view to stepping in immediately.

“Safely” means to an acceptably safe standard. “Legally” means with an acceptably low risk of breaking traffic rules. Whether a vehicle passes can depend on where and in what circumstances it is meant to drive itself (section 1). A car might qualify on certain roads, for instance, but not everywhere.

This draws a bright line between self-driving and driver assistance. Systems that steer, brake and accelerate but still need you to watch the road and take over at any moment don’t count as self-driving under this test.

How safe is “safe”?

When the Act became law, the government said self-driving vehicles would have to achieve a level of safety at least as high as careful and competent human drivers (GOV.UK). The detail will be set out in a statutory statement of safety principles. The Department for Transport consulted on a draft between 17 June and 9 September 2026 (GOV.UK consultation). Parliament will need to approve the final version.

Who is responsible?

The Act creates new legal roles, so it is always clear who answers for a self-driving vehicle:

Authorised self-driving entity (ASDE). This is usually the developer or manufacturer of the self-driving system. It is responsible for making sure the vehicle meets, and keeps meeting, the self-driving standards.
No-user-in-charge operator (NUICO). For journeys with nobody in the driving seat, a licensed operator oversees the trip and deals with any problems.

Both roles are described in the government’s guidance on the Act. The Act also sets up statutory inspectors to investigate incidents involving authorised automated vehicles (Part 3 of the Act).

What about the person in the driving seat?

Some vehicles will drive themselves only for part of a journey, with a person sitting in the driving seat ready to take over. While the self-driving feature is engaged, that person is the user-in-charge.

The user-in-charge does not commit an offence arising from the way the vehicle is driven while it is driving itself (section 47). However, “the way in which a vehicle is driven” doesn’t include “the condition or qualifications of the driver”. You would still need to be fit and qualified to drive, and you remain responsible as a driver for other matters (sections 47 to 49).

In a vehicle with no user-in-charge, such as a future driverless taxi, the people on board are simply passengers. The government’s guidance says they “will not carry any responsibilities for how the vehicle behaves” (DfT guidance).

No more misleading marketing

Part 4 of the Act lets the government protect certain words. Under the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026, terms including “self-driving”, “driverless”, “drive itself”, “autonomous driving” and “automated driving” may only be used to promote vehicles authorised as automated vehicles (legislation.gov.uk). These rules come into force on 7 January 2027 (Commencement No. 3 Regulations).

Passenger services

Part 5 creates permits for automated passenger services: taxi-, private hire- and bus-like services using self-driving vehicles. This is the part already being used for pilots. The relevant sections came into force on 15 May 2026, and applications opened on 22 May 2026 (Commencement No. 3 Regulations; GOV.UK). We explain what that means for our region in When will driverless taxis come to York, Leeds and Manchester?

What’s in force now?

Only parts of the Act apply today: mainly the passenger permit scheme, plus a handful of other sections and powers to make regulations. The marketing rules follow in January 2027, and the government intends full implementation, including the authorisation scheme, in the second half of 2027 (DfT guidance).

This article is a plain-English summary for general information. It is not legal advice.

Sources

All sources checked on 2 October 2026. Things are moving quickly; if you spot something out of date, email hello@yatransit.co.uk.