Rejected petition: Pause the rollout of driverless taxi services in the UK
Rejected on
Pause the rollout of commercial driverless taxi services until independent assessments of safety, employment, congestion and public impact have been completed and debated by Parliament.
Driverless taxi services could have a significant impact on employment, with thousands of taxi and private hire drivers at risk of losing their livelihoods. We are also concerned about safety in busy UK towns and cities, particularly around pedestrians and cyclists, and the potential for increased congestion. The Government should pause commercial rollout until these issues have been independently assessed and debated by Parliament.
Why was this petition rejected?
It’s not clear what the petition is asking the UK Government or Parliament to do.
Petitions need to call on the Government or Parliament to take a specific action that it hasn't already taken.
Parliament debated driverless vehicles several times during the passage of the Automated Vehicles Act 2024: https://bills.parliament.uk/bills/3506
You can find transcripts of the Parliamentary debates on Hansard: https://hansard.parliament.uk/search/Debates?startDate=2023-01-01&endDate=2024-06-01&searchTerm=automated%20vehicles%20bill&partial=False&sortOrder=1
The Act adopted many of the recommendations made by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission on automated vehicles. The Law Commission review considered how automated vehicles could safely and responsibly be introduced. You can read the report here: https://lawcom.gov.uk/project/automated-vehicles/
You can read the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 here: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2024/10/body
You could start a new petition explaining clearly what you would like the Government or Parliament to do that it hasn't already done, for example ending the rollout of driverless taxis if that's something you'd like to see.
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.