The Automated Vehicles Act 2024, explained

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 is the primary legislation for self-driving vehicles in Great Britain. This page explains what the Act itself sets up — its structure, the self-driving test, the named roles, how it is enforced and how liability shifts — and flags what is in force versus what arrives with the wider 2027 framework. For how to comply in practice, or the pilot route you can use today, follow the linked guides.

How the Act is structured

The Act is organised in Parts, each dealing with a different piece of the regime — the regulatory scheme for authorisation and in-use regulation, criminal liability and the user-in-charge, policing and investigation, marketing restrictions, and automated passenger permits.^[1],[4] Knowing which Part a duty sits in is the quickest way to see whether it binds you now or later.

The authorisation scheme and the self-driving test

Part 1 establishes an authorisation scheme: a vehicle can be authorised to drive itself only if it meets the self-driving test, judged against a statement of safety principles.^[1],[4] This is the gate that separates a genuinely automated vehicle from a driver-assistance system. The detailed authorisation process is part of the framework coming into force in 2027.

The named roles: ASDE and NUIC operator

The Act creates specific responsible entities. An Authorised Self-Driving Entity (ASDE) is the body responsible for how an authorised vehicle behaves when it is driving itself.^[1],[4] For vehicles that operate with no user-in-charge, Part 1 provides an operator licensing scheme — the NUIC operator oversees vehicles running without a person responsible for taking control.^[1],[4] Both roles, and the licensing that goes with them, come into force with the wider 2027 framework; dedicated guides to each role will follow in this cluster.

In-use regulation and enforcement

Once vehicles are authorised, an in-use regulatory scheme monitors them and enforces the rules through compliance notices, redress notices and monetary penalties, and ultimately suspension or withdrawal of authorisation.^[1],[4] Part 1 also carries information duties (with offences for false or withheld safety information) and a monitoring and incident-reporting duty.

The user-in-charge and how liability shifts

Part 2 introduces the user-in-charge: a person in the vehicle who is not driving while the authorised self-driving feature is engaged. It gives them immunity from certain offences arising from the manner of driving while the vehicle drives itself — with specified exceptions, and with other duties (such as insurance and roadworthiness) preserved.^[1],[4] This is the Act’s core liability shift: responsibility for the driving moves from the person to the authorised system and the entities behind it. It applies to authorised vehicles as the framework comes into force.

Statutory incident inspectors

Part 3 creates statutory automated vehicle incident inspectors with powers to investigate incidents involving authorised vehicles — a no-blame investigatory function aimed at learning, distinct from policing.^[1],[4] It sits alongside stopping and seizure powers for enforcement.

Marketing powers

Part 4 gives the power now exercised by the Marketing Restrictions Regulations 2026 to reserve terms such as “self-driving” and “driverless” to authorised vehicles — those restrictions come into force on 7 January 2027.^[1],[3] The aim is to stop driver-assistance systems being sold as if they were automated.

Part 5: automated passenger permits

Part 5 creates automated passenger service permits, whose procedural detail is set by the 2026 APS Regulations that are already in force.^[1],[2] This is the one operative permitting regime today — the dedicated APS permit guide covers validity, scope and consent.

Where to go next

This page is about what the Act says. To see everything that regulates self-driving today and how the pieces fit, use the regulations landscape. To act on the only route currently open, see pilot scheme compliance.

Where Complys fits

Complys does not authorise vehicles or provide legal advice. As the Act’s duties resolve into records — safety cases, information and incident logs, maintenance evidence, training and document control — Complys keeps that evidence organised and audit-ready. See the compliance software overview.