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Automated Vehicles Bill has “potential to transform our sector”, says Logistics UK
New laws were introduced into Parliament last week to put safety at the heart of the roll-out of self-driving vehicle technology and position the UK as a world leader in this exciting, estimated £42 billion market.
As announced in the King’s Speech on Tuesday 7 November, the Automated Vehicles (AV) Bill will deliver one of the most comprehensive legal frameworks of its kind anywhere in the world for self-driving vehicles.
“The Bill introduces reforms for the safe commercial development of self-driving vehicles, which have the potential to transform our sector,” said Ben Garratt, Deputy Director of Public Affairs at Logistics UK.
“Pushing forward in this area represents an opportunity to champion and showcase innovation in self-driving vehicles in logistics, to demonstrate where our sector is leading the way and help to educate the public on the benefits that autonomous vehicles can bring.
“We urge government to continue to support investors, innovation partners, tech companies and the logistics sector to work together to trial and deploy autonomous vehicles, including to develop business cases and bring the cost of technology down.
“Alongside the right regulatory environment, we need to ensure there is a strong business case for investing in autonomy.
“Showing leadership in these cutting-edge technologies by introducing both long-term regulations for self-driving vehicles and flexible regulations to support advanced trials, with no driver present, will be key to this.
“Logistics UK will continue to engage with the government to ensure the changes support the efficiency and safety of logistics, and support logistics acting as a test bed for the wider transport sector,” Garratt concluded.
The logistics sector is supported by a network of respected organisations that are assisting with the innovation journey – including CCAV, the Law Commission, DVSA and those working to bring innovators, investors and logistics businesses together, such as Innovate UK, Connected Places Catapult and Zenzic.
There is a wide range of use cases for autonomous commercial vehicles, from vehicles used for trunking or from distribution-to-distribution centres; local and city delivery; postal/parcel delivery; refuse collection; and quarry operations.
*www.logistics.org.uk/campaigns
Published On: 16/11/2023 16:00:00
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