Guidance

Connected and automated vehicles: process for assuring safety and security (CAVPASS)

CAVPASS develops and implements standards, testing and monitoring processes to ensure that connected and self-driving vehicles are safe and resilient to cyber attack.

About the CAVPASS programme

The programme was launched in 2019 in response to the Law Commissions’ first consultation paper on safety, which was part of their multi-year review of legislation and self-driving vehicles and continues with their current review into remote driving.

Information on the Law Commission’s first report on road safety can found on their future with self-driving vehicles webpage.

Their current review can be found on their Remote driving webpage. Due to the extent of issues raised that affect road and vehicle safety, CAVPASS considers the full range of government processes and systems that contribute to safety assurance throughout the whole life of a vehicle.

The objectives of CAVPASS are to:

  • develop technical standards and regulations to ensure the safe and secure trialling, adoption and ongoing roadworthiness of self-driving vehicles
  • develop processes to authorise a vehicle, thereby permitting the vehicle to drive itself, and ongoing requirements to maintain the validity of this authorisation
  • develop and/or adapt rules on the safe use of self-driving vehicles, such as through the Highway Code, driver, vehicle and service licencing, and insurance
  • ensure the government has the skills, capabilities, and access to assets to deliver safe and secure use of self-driving vehicles
  • support safe trialling of prototype self-driving vehicles on our roads and ensure the UK is industry’s trialling destination of choice, building on the Code of Practice: automated vehicle trialling
  • design and implement processes to ensure that self-driving vehicles have resilience and can respond to cyber-attacks, and that the data they hold is secure

Organisations involved

The programme team includes staff from across CCAV, DfT and its motoring agencies, as well as other government departments and their agencies.

The CAVPASS programme is being delivered jointly by the:

  • Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
  • Department for Transport
  • Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy
  • Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA)
  • Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA)
  • Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA)
  • National Centre for Cyber Security (NCSC)

The programme works closely with academia and industry partners, working together to enable the safe and secure development and deployment of connected and self-driving technologies.

An expert advisory panel (EAP) provides independent advice on the development of the CAVPASS programme. More information on the EAP can be found on Expert advisory panel for CAVPASS programme.

Contact us

Email: [email protected]

Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
Great Minster House
33 Horseferry Road
London
SW1P 4DR
United Kingdom

Updates to this page

Published 19 August 2022

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