UK Government urged to adopt European Safety Standards

7 July 2023

A year after the adoption of the General and Pedestrian Safety Regulations (GSR) in the European Union, the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety (PACTS) has today published a Briefing- Still-unvaccinated-GSR-one-year-on-2023 - calling on the government to align UK's vehicle safety standards with these ground-breaking measures.

Endorsing these measures will not only secure the welfare of UK road users but also bolster the UK automotive sector, which exports most new cars to the EU, where these standards are now mandatory. The GSR technologies are crucial for the advancement of connected and autonomous vehicles and come at minimal cost to the taxpayer or consumer. There is evidence that vehicle owners purchasing new EU-compliant models in Great Britain are having to pay additional costs to access the fitted-as-standard safety features.

Despite the UK government consulting on new vehicle regulations in November 2021 - The Future of Transport Regulatory Review - there's an urgent need to act and reassert the country’s leadership in transport safety.

The Government published The Road Safety Statement 2019 A Lifetime of Road Safety that covers ‘Safe Vehicles’ so needs to act to deliver this. These measures are also key to the safe introduction of Autonomous Vehicles.