Section 39 — Duty with respect to incidents with potential regulatory consequences
Extent: E+W+S
Snapshot: 2026-08-24
Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .
(1) The Secretary of State must put in place arrangements that the Secretary of State considers effective and proportionate for—
(a) identifying the occurrence of relevant incidents,
(b) enquiring into the causes of those incidents (including by means of the investigative powers), and
(c) deciding whether any of the enforcement powers should be exercised in response.
(2) In this section— “relevant incidents” means incidents that— (a) occur on a road or other public place, (b) involve an authorised automated vehicle, and (c) reveal grounds for enquiring into whether any of the enforcement powers has become exercisable as a result of the incident; “the investigative powers” means the powers in sections 16 to 23 and Chapter 4; “the enforcement powers” means the powers in section 8(2) and (3) and Chapter 5.
(3) The investigative powers do not limit what the Secretary of State may do for the purposes of the arrangements put in place under subsection (1) without relying on powers of coercion.