The UK’s minister of state for transport, George Freeman, has announced a new safety regime called CAV PASS in a bid to ensure the safe testing and roll-out of AVs in the country. CAV PASS is an assurance system and has been developed by the UK government using its expertise in vehicle safety and cybersecurity within government, industry and academia.
Freeman said, “Self-driving vehicles can offer significant rewards for the UK’s economy, road safety and accessibility. We are determined to lead in the testing and development of safe autonomous transport. This is new terrain, and with our national expertise the UK is well placed to blaze the trail globally by developing a global benchmark for assuring the safety and security of this exciting technology.”
The safety assurance system will first focus on enabling the advanced trialling of self-driving vehicles, and aims to eventually help assure the safety and security of these vehicles for their mainstream sale and use. Such advanced trials may include those without a human operator in the loop at all times, or the assessment of novel vehicle types such as pods and shuttles.
The work builds on the world-leading code of practice for AV trials first launched by the UK in 2015 and updated this year. Click here for more information.
For everything on the testing and safe rollout of AVs, check out the Autonomous Vehicle Test & Development Symposium in Novi, MI in October. For more information, up-to-date programs and rates, click here.