Clarity on fleet ‘walkaround’checks needed for autonomous vehicles

Clarity is needed over how fleet ‘walkaround’ safety checks will be completed as autonomous vehicles (AVs) start to arrive on UK roads, says FleetCheck.

Neil Avent, chief technical officer at the fleet software specialist, points out the legislation surrounding the introduction of AVs, which are already being trialled in taxi form on London streets, provides no direct answer.

‘The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 creates two roles – the Automated Driving System Entity (ADSE), which is usually the manufacturer or developer, and the No User In Charge (NUIC) operator, meaning the company operating the service.

‘These together are legally responsible for identifying safety relevant issues and ensuring the vehicle is safe to operate – but the absence of a human who can carry out a regular visual check to confirm the AV is okay to use is a very real problem that requires clarity. 

‘Certainly, it is a massive change from how vehicle safety is currently evaluated. There can be no traditional walkaround check if there is driver to walk around.’

It was highly unlikely that initial AV designs would be unable to replace a human when it came to assessing key aspects of roadworthiness identified during a visual check, he added.

‘In time, more comprehensive technological solutions may become available to replace visual checks and already, it is at least potentially possible that factors such as tyre pressures could be monitored remotely.

‘However, it is currently somewhere between difficult and impossible for vehicle sensors to spot issues such as damaged tyres or alloy wheels, which could have serious safety implications if they fail at speed.’

For this reason, manual checks of AVs would probably need to be built into NUIC operating schedules, perhaps to coincide with AV charging, Neil said.

‘While these are no longer really classified as pre-use in the same way as traditional walkaround checks, regular inspection to a schedule specifying standard daily and deeper weekly checks will remain essential to ensuring vehicle safety.

‘AVs may remove the need for drivers but they don’t remove legal obligations from operators. Fleets need to be cognisant of their responsibilities and, when adopting driverless vehicles or machinery, ensure they are meeting all relevant safety regulations.’

Pictured: Neil Avent, chief technical officer, FleetCheck.