Safety is our business

It's at the heart of everything we do.

We stand together on safety.

For us, safety is about trust. Trust in our technology to reduce risks associated with transport on public roads and off-road environments. Trust in the ways we engage with customers, insurers and regulators to understand and shape their safety requirements. Trust in our consistently strong safety record.

To ensure we continue to earn that trust, we never stop working on safety. So as well as enhancing our technology, we work to unite the autonomy ecosystem towards a common purpose.

Our safety framework

We never compromise on safety. Our rigorous safety case builds in safety from day one, embeds it into everything we do and continually generates robust evidence of systems and operational safety. It goes further too. Continuous monitoring during testing and through deployment ensures we understand every decision our AI makes and exactly how its performance can be improved.

Embedding safety into everything: Safety underpins everything, from our company culture to how we design, test and deploy our self-driving software.
Continuous monitoring and explainability: We constantly monitor and analyse data to determine why our software is making certain choices, both during testing and after deployment.
Continuous improvement: Safety is not a tick box; it is never complete. We continuously make improvements to reduce risk over time, making any environment that uses our software increasingly safer.

World-leading safety recognition

BSI - world-leading safety recognition

We are the first and only autonomy company in the world to have our safety case recognised by a global certification institute.

ISO 27001 - global best practice data protection and cyber resilience

ISO/ICE 27001 is the world's best-known standard for information security management systems (ISMS).

TISAX - data protection and privacy

TISAX defines requirements aimed at suppliers in the automotive industry. This certifies that our information security management system complies with defined security levels and allows sharing of assessment results across a designated platform.

Robust verification and validation

We never stop testing. To ensure our safety evidence is robust, every piece of new code is rigorously and extensively tested and assessed before it’s approved and deployed both on-road and off-road. We do this in a number of ways.

Virtual testing: Testing via simulation using Oxa MetaDriver is quick, sustainable and cost-effective. It uses generative AI to produce vast numbers of ‘edge cases’ against which it tests our software’s responses many times over in different, simulated scenarios.
Closed-course testing: Before our software is put to use in vehicles on public roads, we test it to the limit in the controlled environment of a closed course in order to find the boundaries and edge cases, and then transfer those lessons into real-world applications.
On-road testing: We constantly test our software not just as a whole but as individual components, such as perception and mapping. Our technology is put through its paces in a range of vehicles, and deployed across multiple scenarios and environments, in accordance with PAS 1881.
In-use monitoring: In-use monitoring proactively identifies infractions, incidents and required system improvements. Lessons learned from analysis and investigation are then incorporated into new or refined requirements, validation scenarios for simulation, and metrics for in-use monitoring.
Safety drivers: As we test our software for safe real-world use, humans remain in ultimate control. Our vehicles often carry an additional, highly qualified human safety driver with extensive AV experience and training who can take control of the vehicle if needed. We also have an Autonomy Control System Operator at all times during testing, who monitors system performance in real time from inside or outside the vehicle.

Building trust in autonomous vehicles

To build trust with the wider public, we collaborate with other AV stakeholders to define and clearly communicate industry best practices, standards and regulatory frameworks.

Public standards for safety: We are committed to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030, which aims to prevent at least 50% of road traffic deaths and injuries by 2030.
Community engagement: We actively work with diverse community stakeholders including emergency services and vulnerable road users. We host engagement sessions, share information, listen to concerns and learn.