HAVE YOUR SAY ON AUTONOMOUS CAR RULES
Clubs urged to take part in Highway Code re-write consultation
he government agencies behind legislating the use of autonomous cars on motorways is seeking to reassure the classic car movement that historic vehicles will not be left out of rule-making.
Clubs, enthusiasts and owners have been invited to take part in a public consultation run by the Department for Transport (DfT) on behalf of the Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles, which closes on 28 May. It asks participants about the impact of amending the Highway Code before the use of autonomous vehicles becomes widespread. Cars capable of fulfilling some autonomous driving requirements could appear on motorways by the end of this year, according to the Government.
A previous call to evidence in 2020 took the historic vehicle movement’s views into account when the DfT was implementing Automatic Lane Keeping Systems (ALKS), a key system to be used by self-driving vehicles on motorways.
A DfT spokesperson said that autonomous vehicles would not prevent historic vehicles from using existing and future motorways, even with an amended Highway Code: ‘Automated vehicles must be able
Tto comply with road traffic rules, safely interact with all other road users (including vintage vehicles) and operate with the existing road infrastructure, so we do not envisage changes to road rules or restrictions on other road users.’
The historic vehicle movement’s voice in Westminster, Sir Greg Knight MP, reiterated that ALKS would not take classics off motorways. He said: ‘The Government proposal to give typeapproval to semi-autonomous ALKS vehicles is designed to improve road safety and, in the longer term, it opens up the possibility of car travel to people unable to drive. It is not designed to penalise historic vehicles or other road users with non-ALKS vehicles, who will continue to make up the vast majority of cars on the road for some considerable time to come.’
Some clubs, however, felt that the DfT has not done enough to publicise the consultation. Fiat Motor Club GB press officer, Gavin Bushby, remained uneasy about the impact of ALKS and autonomous vehicles gaining type approval for the motorways so quickly. He said: ‘ We have concerns that a mixture of autonomous vehicles, modern cars where the driver isn’t paying attention and feels insulated from reality and classics that need real driver input, is a recipe for disaster. Surely this can’t work until all cars are driverless– and making all cars driverless effectively removes our members’ vehicles from the road, something which we would vehemently oppose.’
Jaguar Breakfast Club founder, Peter Simpson, agreed that classics should be treated the same as non-autonomous vehicles, but that the wording of how self-driving cars interacted with older vehicles needed strengthening. He said: ‘All vehicles regardless of age deserve equal respect. We wouldn’t agree that the proposed wording has no impact but believe that it could be strengthened for complete clarity.
‘Currently there is no clear indication of what is permitted by the driver when the vehicle is in automated mode and this is crucial to safety. This should not be left open to interpretation and recommend some clarification of the driver’s allowable actions.’
Responses can take the form of a letter, email or online document.