Automated Vehicles Act 2024

Section 45

Schedule 2 Amendments related to Part 1

Theft Act 1968 (c. 60)

1 In section 12 of the Theft Act 1968 (taking motor vehicle or other conveyance without authority), in subsection (7), for paragraph (a) (but not the final “and”) substitute—

“(a) “conveyance” means—

(i) any conveyance constructed or adapted for the carriage of a person or persons whether by land, water or air, except a conveyance constructed or adapted for use only under the control of a person not carried in or on it, or

(ii) any vehicle authorised under section 3 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024,

and “drive” accordingly includes any act of putting in motion, or controlling the motion of, any such conveyance or vehicle;”.

Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 52)

2 In section 18ZA of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 (actions under section 2 of the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018), in subsections (1) and (4)(b), before “automated” insert “authorised”.

Limitation Act 1980 (c. 58)

3 In section 14(1B) of the Limitation Act 1980 (date of knowledge for purposes of limitation periods to do with automated vehicles), before “automated” (in both places it occurs) insert “authorised”.

Road Traffic Act 1988 (c. 52)

4 (1) The Road Traffic Act 1988 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 145 (requirements about insurance policies), in subsections (3A) and (4), before “automated” (in each place it occurs) insert “authorised”.

(3) In section 161(1) (definitions for the purposes of Part 6), omit the definition of “automated vehicle”.

(4) In the table in section 162 (index to Part 6), omit the entry for “automated vehicle”.

(5) In section 192 (general interpretation)—

(a) in subsection (1), at the appropriate place insert—

• ““authorised automated vehicle” means a vehicle authorised under section 3 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024;”;

(b) after subsection (1) insert—

“(1ZA) Section 44 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 applies for the purposes of the provisions of this Act relating to authorised automated vehicles as it applies for the purposes of Part 1 of that Act.”

(6) In the table in section 194 (index of defined terms), at the appropriate place insert—

“Authorised automated vehicle

Section 192”.

Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 (c. 18)

5 (1) The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 is amended as follows.

(2) Omit section 1 (list of automated vehicles).

(3) In each of the following provisions, before “automated” insert “authorised”—

(a) in section 2, the heading and subsections (1)(a), (2)(a), (3)(a) and (c)(ii) and (4);

(b) section 3(2);

(c) in section 4, subsections (1) and (6)(a);

(d) in section 6, subsections (2)(a) and (3);

(e) section 8(3)(b) (in both places).

(4) In section 2 (liability of insurers etc)—

(a) in subsection (1)(b), for “insured” substitute “being used by an insured person”;

(b) in subsection (2)(b), for “insured” substitute “being used by an insured person”.

(5) In section 7 (duty to prepare report on operation of Part 1 of the Act)—

(a) in subsection (1)—

(i) omit paragraph (a);

(ii) in paragraph (b), for “vehicles that are capable of safely driving themselves” substitute “authorised automated vehicles”;

(b) in subsection (2), for “publication of the list under section 1” substitute “authorisation is granted under section 3 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024”.

(6) In section 8 (interpretation)—

(a) for subsection (1) substitute—

“(1) For the purposes of this Part—

(a) an authorised automated vehicle is “driving itself” if it is travelling while an authorised automation feature of the vehicle is engaged;

(b) a person is an “insured person”, in relation to a vehicle, if there is in force in relation to that person’s use of the vehicle on a road or other public place in Great Britain a policy of insurance that satisfies the conditions in section 145 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.

(1A) Section 44(5) of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 (authorisation to determine when feature “engaged” or “disengaged”) applies for the purposes of subsection (1)(a) as it applies for the purposes of Part 1 of that Act.”;

(b) in subsection (2)—

(i) for the definition of “automated vehicle” substitute—

• ““authorised automated vehicle” means a vehicle authorised under section 3 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024;

• “authorised automation feature” has the same meaning as in Part 1 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 (see section 44(1) of that Act);”;

(ii) omit the definition of “insured person”;

(iii) for the definition of “insurer” substitute—

• ““insurer”, in relation to an insured person, means the insurer under the policy in question;”.

(7) In the Schedule, omit paragraphs 20 and 21.