Part 1: Regulatory scheme for automated vehicles Chapter 1: Authorisation of road vehicles for automated use Section 2: Statement of safety principles
Section 2 requires the Secretary of State to publish statutory guidance in the form of a ‘statement of safety principles’. The safety principles must be framed with a view to securing that authorised automated vehicles will achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers and that road safety will be better as a result of the use of authorised automated vehicles than otherwise. The Secretary of State must have regard to these when deciding if an individual vehicle is capable of driving autonomously and safely so that it satisfies the self-driving test at initial authorisation and throughout the authorisation period.
	Subsection (1) sets out the requirement for the Secretary of State to prepare the statement of principles. Subsection (2) requires that the principles must be framed with a view to securing that a) authorised automated vehicles will achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers and b) that road safety is better as a result of the use of automated vehicles than it would otherwise be. Paragraph (a) of subsection (2) formally aligns the statement of safety principle with the Government’s stated ambition for self-driving vehicles.
	Subsection (3) sets out that the statement of safety principles must be subject to prior consultation with relevant stakeholders. Subsection (4) requires those stakeholders to include organisations representing:
the interests of businesses involved, or likely to be involved, in the manufacture or operation of mechanically propelled road vehicles designed to travel autonomously,
the interests of road users, and
the cause of road safety.
	Subsections (5) and (6) subject the first iteration of the statement of safety principles to the affirmative procedure in Parliament, allowing for additional Parliamentary scrutiny in this novel area. Subsequent revisions of the statement of safety principles are subject to the negative procedure in Parliament.
	Subsection (10) prevents the use of authorisation powers (see section 3) before the statement of safety principles has effect as they are intended to frame authorisation decisions with a view to ensuring improved road safety (see subsection (2)).