Roads & Policy · Wales
New rules reserve self-driving terms for authorised vehicles in Great Britain
The regulations are intended to stop motorists being misled about whether a vehicle can lawfully and safely drive itself, the UK Government says.
The UK Government has laid the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026, following its consultation on marketing terms for automated vehicles.
The regulations reserve terms including “automated”, “autonomous”, “driverless” and “self-driving” for vehicles authorised or listed as able to drive themselves. The protections apply to a vehicle as a whole or its overall driving capability, rather than to individual features such as automated windscreen wipers or autonomous emergency braking.
The government says the rules are intended to prevent end-users in Great Britain from being misled into believing that an unauthorised vehicle can safely and lawfully drive itself. It says enforcement will be through civil powers, with a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, a fine, or both where a criminal prosecution results in conviction.
The scope is Great Britain, so the change is relevant to drivers and vehicle buyers in Wales.
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