ALL THINGS LICENSING
Article by Mike Smith, Senior Specialist for Licensing and Community Safety at Guildford Borough Council and Vice-Chair of the Institute of Licensing South East Region.
Please note that this article represents my own views which are not presented as the views of the Institute of Licensing or Guildford BC.
Autonomous/self-driving vehicles and the licensing regime
Over the last few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has announced itself on the world stage. AI can now convincingly write academic work, stories and create lifelike images. It is even starting to drive cars and therefore it poses a significant and considerable threat for many jobs.
A decade ago, the taxi and private hire industry was being revolutionised by app-based bookings, however this still very much relied on a driver in a licensed vehicle. So what impact AI is going to have on the industry is unimaginable considering the concept of a driver driving a car was considered untouchable a decade ago.
I recently came across an article about self-driving cars being a possibility on the UK’s motorways by 2026, so it appears the pace of change is very much on the upward curve.
Needless to say the Government is currently discussing The Autonomous Vehicle Bill (AVB), (
https://shorturl.at/fLNZ5) which is designed to introduce a number of safeguards in respect of the introduction of self-driving cars on our roads.
Clearly there are many arguments for and against self-driving vehicles, and probably a huge difference in public opinion, which I do not intend to debate here, rather focus on the potential licensing of such vehicles.
How does the Autonomous Vehicle Bill interact with existing licensing law?
Simply put, true ‘self-driving cars’ won’t. It is difficult to imagine a self-driving vehicle operating as a hackney carriage whereby it could be
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either hailed in the street or taken from a rank immediately. Cleary any operator is likely to want the customer to book so that their details and destin- ations are known. As such this, is very much private hire territory.
However the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 at section 80 defines a private hire vehicle as a “motor vehicle constructed or adapted to seat fewer than nine passengers, other than a hackney carriage or public service vehicle, which is provided for hire with the services of a driver for the purpose of carrying passengers.” (My emphasis added).
As such, the legislation only regulates private hire services where a vehicle and, crucially, a driver are provided. Therefore, if a car is truly self-driving, a driver will not be required and hence it will fall outside of scope of the current legislation.
So what does the Autonomous Vehicle Bill say?
Part 5 of the AVB deals with ‘permits’ for automated passenger services with section 82 of the AVB providing a power for a ‘National Authority’ to issue permits for the provision of automated passenger services in a vehicle which is designed or adapted to travel autonomously, or a vehicle which is being developed and trialled for such as service.
Clearly therefore, the government intends the regulation of self-driving passenger services to be regulated by an as yet undefined ‘National Authority’.
The next part of the AVB at section 83 is a crucial ‘disapplication’ of existing taxi, private hire vehicle and bus legislation whereby the holder of a permit to provide an autonomous vehicle service is not to be treated as operating as a taxi or private hire service. Therefore, it is clear that autonomous vehicle operators are not required to be licensed under existing law, but will required to hold a permit under this new regime.
However, section 84(2)(a) of the AVB appears to indicate that a holder of a permit is not entitled to provide the service of carrying passengers in a standard road vehicle, thus providing a safeguard to the existing licensing system.
APRIL 2024 PHTM
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