The move to Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) is being driven by the many potential benefits of the technology, such as increased safety, reduced traffic congestion, lowered emissions and potentially increased mobility for those unable to drive or for people with disabilities.

However, to reap such benefits it is essential to ensure that CAV technology is safe and is used in a safe manner.

Demonstrating the UK’s intention of becoming a premier development location for CAVs, in 2015, the UK government set up a joint policy unit called CCAV, bringing together expertise from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and the Department for Transport (DfT). With a £250 million budget supported by matched industry funding, CCAV is working closely with industry, academia, standards bodies and regulators to enable the development and ultimately deployment of safe and secure CAV for the efficient movement of goods and people.

A key aspect of ensuring the safe use of CAV is establishing and conveying the capabilities and limitations of the technology to its users, leading to a state of informed safety to enable the development of public trust in the technology.

Why is the Safety of CAVs so Crucial?

A recent CCAV report on public attitudes towards CAVs found that while the public accepts the potential safety benefits of CAV by reducing human error, fatigue, distraction and drink-driving, they consider the safety and security of the technology as of paramount importance.

Reflecting the public attitude, the UK government is also committed to ensuring that the introduction of CAVs for commercial operations or testing/trialling purposes is done both safely and securely, to build public and consumer trust and acceptance of the technology. Industry standards have been suggested as key enablers for the development of trust.

The CAV industry is relatively young with innovations emerging from traditional vehicle manufacturers and from exciting start-ups. This makes the standardization activities challenging.

Against this backdrop, BSI is supporting CAV development through its CAV Standards programme, focussing on the safety and security of CAVs. Sponsored by CCAV, the BSI CAV Standards programme has brought together some of the brightest and most innovative experts from industry, academia and policy in the UK to create ground-breaking standards through a fast-paced standardization route known as a PAS (Publicly Available Specifications).

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The Role Standards Play in Making CAV Technology Safe

Standards in an evolving area like CAV can hugely benefit the entire CAV supply chain from component manufacturers to simulation service providers.

It is widely accepted that simulation will play a key role in creating the safety evidence for the safety case argument. There is a huge diversity in simulation tools. While indicating innovation, this also makes it challenging for end-users to try different solutions. Standards (e.g. in the area of interface definitions) have the potential not only to ensure interoperability but also to increase the efficiency of development while allowing both simulation service providers and end-users to keep innovating in their core expertise.

Standards for emerging technologies like CAVs tend to serve three key purposes: 

• They help consolidate the state of the art by sharing between experts

• They enable interoperability of products from different manufacturers

• They potentially keep a check on the introduction of immature or unsafe technology.

Furthermore, a key priority for BSI is to create strong and robust standards without hindering innovation, especially in an evolving industry like CAV.

Key CAV Safety Standards

• PAS 1880:2020: provides a set of initial guidelines for control system design for automated vehicles

• PAS 1881:2022: provides the minimum requirements for assuring the safety case for automated vehicle trials and testing

• PAS 1882:2021: provides minimum requirements for data recording on a CAV (akin to a black box in aeroplanes)

• PAS 1883:2020: provides minimum requirements for a hierarchical taxonomy for Operational Design Domain (ODD) definition

With a BSI Knowledge subscription, you will have the flexibility and visibility to manage the key standards you need in order to work with confidence and optimize the cybersecurity of your automotive products. Build your own custom collection of standards, or opt for access to our GBM27 Road Vehicle Engineering module and keep up-to-date with any relevant changes to your standards strategy. Request to learn more.

To ensure your automotive business is ready for the challenges of tomorrow, shop our CAV safety standards today.