Client Alert: House of Lords inquiry into driverless cars

The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee has launched an inquiry into the future uses of driverless vehicles in the UK.

The Science and Technology Committee has a broad remit “to consider science and technology”. It scrutinises Government policy by undertaking cross-departmental inquiries into a range of different activities. These include:

• Public policy areas which ought to be informed by scientific research (for example, health effects of air travel),
• Technological challenges and opportunities (for example, genomic medicine) and
• Public policy towards science itself (for example, setting priorities for public research).

In addition, the Committee undertakes shorter inquiries, either taking evidence from Ministers and officials on topical issues, or following up previous work.

The Committee is seeking written evidence from as wide an audience as possible and across a whole range of possible applications from cars to public transport.  The list of questions is broad ranging:

• What are the potential applications for autonomous vehicles?
• What are the potential user benefits and disadvantages from the deployment of autonomous vehicles?
• Are further revisions needed to insurance, regulation and legislation in the UK to create an enabling environment for autonomous vehicles?
• What is the scale of the market opportunity for autonomous vehicles?
• Will successful deployment of autonomous vehicles require changes to digital or physical infrastructure?

The response window is fairly short – respondents have six weeks to submit their views. Written evidence on the issue must be received by Wednesday 26 October 2016. Thereafter, in November, the Committee will start taking oral evidence on the inquiry.

The Keoghs Market Affairs Team plan on drafting a submission to this inquiry a few weeks ahead of the deadline. If you would like a copy and/or would like to discuss this inquiry in more detail, please contact Samantha Ramen.

To view the inquiry please visit the site by clicking here.