Minister for Roads and Buses (): I wish to provide the
House with an update on the implementation of the Automated
Vehicles Act 2024 (the AV
act).
Today (7 July 2026), I have published the government 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
- 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 only be protected 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).
Other terms and enforcement
Although consultees suggested additional terms such as robotaxi'
and AIdriver', these
will be regulated under the general confusion offence (section
79).
The government recognises that, as the technology is deployed,
there may be other terms in future which could give a misleading
impression that a vehicle is able to drive itself. This is why
the protected terms offence under section 78 operates alongside
the confusion offence under section 79. Marketing communications
likely to confuse end-users into thinking that an unauthorised
vehicle is capable of driving itself, including through the use
of terms which are not protected, will be enforced through
section 79. The government will keep this under review, with the
possibility of protecting further terms in future.
The AV act places a duty
on the Secretary of State for Transport to enforce the marketing
offences. In practice, enforcement is expected to be carried out
by the department's agencies through civil powers under Schedule
5 to the AV act. Where a
breach of the marketing offences results in criminal prosecution
and conviction, the act sets the maximum penalty as a 2-year
prison term, a fine, or both.
Next steps
Some respondents raised an interest in further guidance on part 4
of the AVact (misleading
marketing) and the government will consider developing supporting
materials. A wider programme of education, research and review is
also under consideration.
