New Restrictions on Advertising Self-Driving Vehicles in the UK

The UK government will prohibit the use of eight specified terms to promote vehicles that have not been authorised as self-driving, effective 7 January 2027. Potentially affected businesses should review advertising and other consumer-facing communications for restricted terminology and potentially misleading claims about automated features.

On 7 July 2026, the UK government published its response to a consultation on terminology used to describe and market self-driving vehicles, confirming plans for regulations intended to reduce the risk that drivers misunderstand vehicle capabilities or rely too heavily on automated features. The regulations will sit alongside existing UK consumer protection laws that prohibit false or misleading commercial practices.

The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 (AV Act) is the main piece of legislation that regulates self-driving vehicles and provides a framework to authorise their use on UK roads.

Section 78 of the AV Act empowers the secretary of state to specify words that constitute an offence when used to promote or supply a road vehicle or vehicle equipment. Until now, no such words had been specified, so the offence was not in force.

To inform the proposed restrictions, the UK government consulted last year on terminology used to describe and market self-driving vehicles, and respondents strongly supported limiting terms that suggest self-driving capability when a vehicle has not been authorised under the AV Act.

Accordingly, Roads and Buses Minister Simon Lightwood laid the Automated Vehicles (Marketing Restrictions) Regulations 2026 (Regulations) before Parliament. The Regulations will activate the Section 78 offence by prohibiting the following terms and their grammatical variations (collectively, the Restricted Terms):

• “Automated”
• “Automated driving”
• “Autonomous”
• “Autonomous driving”
• “Drive autonomously”
• “Drive itself”
• “Driverless”
• “Self-driving”

 The Restricted Terms apply when used to describe the vehicle’s overall capabilities. Accordingly, individual vehicle features, such as autonomous emergency braking or lane centring technologies, may still be labelled autonomous so long as the advertisement does not suggest the whole vehicle is self-driving.

Unless formally opposed, which is not currently expected, the Regulations will take effect on 7 January 2027.

‘CONFUSION’ OFFENCE: STILL INACTIVE

Section 79 of the AV Act provides a broader “confusion” offence where a communication is likely to confuse an end user as to whether a vehicle can drive itself when it has not been authorised as self-driving under the AV Act. The confusion offence has not yet been implemented because further legislation is needed to activate it and therefore remains dormant. Given that the Regulations do not cover Section 79, the confusion offence will not take effect on 7 January 2027. Nevertheless, the direction of travel is clear, and affected businesses should prepare for the offence’s eventual commencement.

ENFORCEMENT, SANCTIONS & DEFENCES

Use of the Restricted Terms in breach of Section 78 of the AV Act can result in criminal and civil enforcement. The secretary of state for transport is the statutory enforcer, although agencies within the Department for Transport are expected to carry out enforcement. A criminal conviction may result in an unlimited fine, up to two years’ imprisonment, or both.

Civil enforcement may result in an injunction restraining the offending communication and an order requiring the publication of a corrective statement. In either case, the imposition of sanctions will generally require court proceedings, although civil matters may be resolved through an undertaking given by the business.

A business can raise three separate defences to actions under Section 78:

• The Restricted Term was not intended to convey, and could not reasonably have been understood as conveying, any meaning associated with automation.
• The Restricted Term was directed at consumers outside the UK, and all reasonable precautions were taken to prevent the use of the Restricted Term from coming to the attention of UK road users.
• The business did not manufacture or supply the vehicle or equipment and did not know, and had no reason to suspect, that the Restricted Term would amount to an offence.

A SECOND ENFORCEMENT ROUTE: THE DMCC ACT

The same advertising may also breach the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act), which prohibits businesses from providing consumers with false or misleading information. An advertisement containing a false or exaggerated claim that a vehicle can drive itself when it has not been authorised to do so may therefore infringe both the AV Act and the DMCC Act.

While both regimes provide for criminal and civil enforcement, the DMCC Act gives the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) direct enforcement powers that are not available to the Department for Transport under the AV Act. The CMA may determine that consumer law has been infringed and impose remedies without first obtaining a court order, including directions to cease the conduct, provide consumer redress, or implement compliance measures. It may also impose a penalty of up to 10% of the business’s global turnover or £300,000 (approximately $400,000), whichever is greater.

TAKEAWAYS

Businesses involved in manufacturing, supplying, or promoting motor vehicles and vehicle components should review UK-facing and global advertising and marketing, websites, product descriptions, consumer contracts, dealer materials, and other consumer communications for uses of the Restricted Terms that describe a vehicle’s overall capabilities.

Compliance should not be limited to removing Restricted Terms: businesses should also assess the overall net impression created by their communications, evaluate whether claims about automated features are accurate and substantiated, and clearly distinguish driver-assistance features from authorised self-driving capability. These measures will help mitigate exposure under the DMCC Act and prepare businesses to address potential allegations under the broader Section 79 confusion offence once it takes effect.

Trainee solicitor Jack Manton contributed to this LawFlash.