The future rollout of self-driving vehicles across the UK moved a step closer last week (17 June), as the government launched a public consultation on its draft Statement of Safety Principles (SoSP).

Required under section 2 of the Automated Vehicles (AV) Act 2024, this statutory statement will guide the Secretary of State for Transport on whether an autonomous vehicle is legally safe to deploy on British roads, and how its performance will be monitored annually. The consultation runs until 9 September 2026.

The Bare Minimum: “Careful and Competent”

The government has officially proposed that the legal safety standard for an automated vehicle will be set at equivalent to a “careful and competent” human driver, rejecting calls from some groups to set an unmeasurable “zero collision” or “perfect” target.

To make this measurable, the DfT has broken down “careful and competent” into 10 distinct behavioral principles that the vehicle’s automated driving system (ADS) must demonstrate:

• Principle 1 & 4: Complying with all traffic laws, the Highway Code, and adapting smoothly to adverse road and weather conditions.
• Principle 2 & 3: Maintaining absolute vehicle control at all times—including during unexpected events—while predicting and responding to hazards proactively.
• Principle 7 & 8: Interacting safely with emergency services and vulnerable road users like cyclists and pedestrians.

For a software developer, these are lines of code and sensor inputs. For an independent workshop, this is a massive technical shift in responsibility.

If a self-driving vehicle must maintain flawless control and hazard perception to remain legal, the mechanical components that govern those actions, steering, suspension, braking, and ADAS tracking, become hyper-critical.

A standard tracking adjustment or a replacement strut on a Level 4 autonomous vehicle is no longer just about preventing uneven tire wear; it is about ensuring the vehicle’s radar and cameras can hit their statutory safety targets.

The Aftermarket Blindspot

Perhaps the most telling part of the consultation document is what the DfT has chosen to exclude from the Statement of Safety Principles.

The government explicitly states that areas such as ongoing software updates, cyber resilience, and incident data sharing will not be included as explicit vehicle safety principles, arguing that they are better handled by other areas of the wider AV regulatory framework.

This is where the independent aftermarket must get vocal before the 9 September 2026 deadline.

If ongoing software updates and security compliance are managed via separate “authorisation conditions” locked between the government and the vehicle manufacturer, we risk a framework where independent repairers are locked out of the vehicle ecosystem entirely.

If an independent garage cannot access the secure OEM platforms required to verify or update a vehicle’s safety software after a mechanical repair, that vehicle cannot legally return to the road.

Protect Your Future Right to Repair

The DfT notes that the self-driving sector could unlock billions for the UK economy and create thousands of skilled jobs by 2035. But those jobs shouldn’t only exist within VM-authorised dealer networks.

As vehicle technology evolves, the line between a purely mechanical repair and a software-driven safety system is disappearing completely.

This consultation is a clear signal that the government is formalising the rules of autonomous operation. Independent business owners, technicians, and industry bodies need to look closely at these 10 principles and ask how the independent sector will be granted the secure data access required to keep these vehicles “careful and competent”.

The DfT is actively seeking views from businesses and the wider industry. Responses can be submitted via the online portal or emailed directly to consultation@ccav.gov.uk before 11:59pm on 9 September 2026. Make sure the independent voice is heard.