I wish to provide the House with an update on the implementation of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.
Today I have published the Government’s response to the “Protecting marketing terms” consultation and laid the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026 statutory instrument.
The purpose of the “Protecting marketing terms” consultation was to identify the words, expressions, symbols or marks that should only be used to describe authorised or listed automated vehicles. These regulations will help prevent end users in Great Britain from being misled into thinking that vehicles that are not authorised automated vehicles can safely and lawfully drive themselves.
Misleading marketing of automated vehicles is dangerous: it can mislead drivers into thinking that they do not need to pay attention to the road. As more manufacturers offer high-end driver assistance systems, misleading marketing risks worsening road safety and could undermine trust and successful adoption of self-driving vehicle technology.
The AV Act sets out an authorisation process to determine whether a vehicle can drive itself safely and legally without being controlled or monitored by a human. This process would be undermined if businesses are able to claim that their vehicles are self-driving without getting the vehicles authorised, which may lead to confusion about vehicle capabilities and driver responsibilities.
Consultation outcome
The consultation demonstrated broad support for protecting certain marketing terms so that they may only be used legally to describe vehicles authorised or listed as able to safely drive themselves. This measure is intended to:
safeguard the integrity of the authorisation and listing process;
ensure public safety; and
build public trust in self-driving technology.
Protected terms and scope
The following terms will be reserved for authorised or listed vehicles:
Automated
Automated driving
Autonomous
Autonomous driving
Drive autonomously
Drive itself
Driverless
Self-driving
This protection will extend to different parts of speech and other grammatical forms of these terms. Additionally, the words “automated” and “autonomous” will be protected only when used to describe a vehicle as a whole or a vehicle’s overall driving capability, while remaining permissible for specific parts or features—for example, automated windscreen wipers or autonomous emergency braking.