Research and analysis

Automated vehicles: testing proposed wording used in The Highway Code

Outlines the findings of cognitive testing research into whether the revised Highway Code wording about automated vehicles was clearly understood by drivers.

• From: Department for Transport and Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
• Published: 20 April 2022

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

Documents

Automated vehicles: the Highway Code update – cognitive testing report

PDF, 255 KB, 10 pages

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Details

This report outlines the findings of research conducted to test the clarity of revised Highway Code wording and drivers’ understanding of:

• the difference between automated vehicles and vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems, in terms of vehicle capability and driver responsibilities
• their residual responsibilities when an automated vehicle is driving itself
• what they can and cannot do when an automated vehicle is driving itself

The draft Highway Code text used in this research was a revised version of text included in the Department for Transport’s (DfT’s) April 2021 consultation on Safe use rules for automated vehicles. The revisions made to the text took account of responses received to consultation.

The text which was used for this cognitive research was then further amended on the basis of the research findings to produce the final text for the Highway Code.

The research was commissioned by DfT and conducted by BritainThinks.

Published 20 April 2022