Sarah Gates

Sarah Gates is director of public policy at Wayve, a London-based company pioneering AI to solve self-driving. Wayve is building embodied AI software that gives vehicles the safe driving intelligence to drive anywhere. Gates created the public policy team at Wayve and works closely with governments across the world and their partners, focusing on the future regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles. Prior to joining Wayve, Gates had a multidisciplinary background across a variety of science and technology roles. She began her career in academia, with a PhD at Imperial College London and has since specialized in science and research policy; in AI, data and emerging technologies, in both the UK government and industry.

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Presentation

Panel Discussion - Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS): Are we going far enough?

The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) in March 2024 adopted the Driver Control Assistance Systems (DCAS) regulation – R171. It entered into force at the end of September 2024. This Regulation ensures improved safety and performance for driver assistance systems. Within the regulation, there has been extensive discussion around the concept of System-Initiated Manouevres (SIM), especially for a driver hands-off situation, which has been kept out of the regulation due to safety concerns. This panel session will bring diverse viewpoints from industry, academia and regulation who would discuss and debate the accuracy and applicability of evidence for both preventing and going ahead of the hands-off SIM concept in the DCAS regulation.