Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on what legal basis Tesla Autopilot is able to operate on roads in the UK.

In general, a vehicle must have been type-approved to be registered for use on roads in the UK when new. This is the process whereby a vehicle and its systems are confirmed as meeting the minimum regulatory requirements. Tesla’s Autopilot is a collection of driver assistance features which are covered by individual systems approvals for steering and brakes, the requirements for which have been developed at an international level under the UN’s World Forum for Harmonisation of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29). The issuing of these system approvals was not undertaken by the UK but they are mutually recognised under international obligations. The certificates for the system approvals formed part of the documentation that allowed the Vehicle Certification Agency to issue provisional GB type-approval certificates for Tesla vehicles, which enables them to be registered.