The Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026
- Department: Department for Transport
- Made under: Automated Vehicles Act 2024
Established a list of eight terms and their variants that can only be used to market vehicles authorised as automated under the 2024 Act.
These Regulations specify a list of eight terms, including 'automated', 'autonomous', and 'self-driving', which are restricted for use in the marketing, promotion, and supply of road vehicles or vehicle equipment in England, Wales, and Scotland.
From 7 January 2027, the use of these terms (or their grammatical variants) to describe a vehicle or its driving capability is limited to vehicles officially authorised under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024.
The restrictions apply to any person or business involved in the promotion or supply of road vehicles and associated hardware.
Arguments For
The legislation defines the specific vocabulary that is subject to section 78 of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024, providing a clear list for businesses to ensure compliance.
Proponents argue that restricting terms like 'self-driving' and 'autonomous' to authorised vehicles prevents consumer confusion regarding a vehicle's actual capabilities.
The order states that these restrictions apply to the promotion and supply of both vehicles and equipment, ensuring a consistent standard across the automotive market.
The Secretary of State confirms that representative organisations were consulted prior to the drafting of these regulations, as required by the parent Act.
Arguments Against
Legal commentators may note that the broad inclusion of 'variants' and 'grammatical forms' in Regulation 2(3) could create ambiguity as to which specific words are prohibited.
Industry groups may raise concerns regarding the impact on existing marketing materials and brand names that utilize these common terms but do not meet the Act's specific 'authorised' criteria.
Implementation difficulties may arise for international manufacturers who use standardized global terminology that may now conflict with these UK-specific marketing restrictions.
Citation, commencement and extent
- -(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 7th January 2027.
- (2) These Regulations extend to England and Wales and Scotland.
This section establishes the official name of the regulations and sets the date they become legally active as 7 January 2027.
It specifies that the rules apply in the jurisdictions of England, Wales, and Scotland.
Restricted terms
- -(1) Subject to paragraph (2), each of the following terms is a restricted term( 2 )-
- (a) automated;
- (b) automated driving;
- (c) autonomous;
- (d) autonomous driving;
- (e) drive autonomously;
- (f) drive itself;
- (g) driverless;
- (h) self-driving.
(2) The terms at sub-paragraphs (a) and (c) of paragraph (1) are restricted terms only when used to describe-
- (a) a vehicle as a whole, or
- (b) the overall driving functionality or capability of a vehicle.
(3) A term listed in paragraph (1) includes-
- (a) variants of the term resulting from its assignment to a different part of speech, and
- (b) other grammatical forms of the term.
This section lists eight specific terms that are legally restricted when used in relation to road vehicles.
The terms 'automated' and 'autonomous' are only restricted when they refer to the vehicle as a whole or its general driving capabilities, rather than specific sub-systems.
The restriction also extends to different grammatical forms or parts of speech derived from the listed words.
Under the parent Automated Vehicles Act 2024, using these terms for vehicles that are not officially 'authorised' may constitute a criminal offence.
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