Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps her Department is taking to help improve the reliability of lane-keeping assist technologies (a) in challenging environmental conditions and (b) generally.

Lane keeping technology is designed to assist drivers but they must remain attentive and are still responsible for the safe operation of the vehicle at all times. Lane-keeping assist technologies must be approved to internationally agreed technical requirements that provide assurance of the safe operation of these systems. Manufacturers are free to determine the extent to which their system operates across a range of environmental conditions provided it is considered safe by the approval authority. The UK is an active participant in the negotiation of these requirements and has recently been involved in the development of a new regulation specifically to allow more sophisticated driver assistance systems. This new regulation gives approval authorities clearer direction on assessing the safe functioning of these systems, benefitting manufacturers when making the case for allowing their system to operate across a wider range of environmental conditions.