The Saudi Arabian Ministry of Interior has published amendments to the Executive Regulations of the Traffic Law establishing a formal liability framework for autonomous vehicles, designating vehicle owners as the accountable party for fully driverless systems and extending the full scope of traffic penalties to that class of vehicle. The changes, approved by Interior Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif and published in the official gazette Umm Al-Qura on June 13, 2026, represent the most consequential update to Saudi traffic law since the Kingdom launched its first public robotaxi pilot in Riyadh less than a year earlier.
Owner Liability Replaces Driver Accountability in Fully Driverless Operations
The amendments draw a clear distinction between two operational modes. For autonomous vehicles that still require human oversight, the driver on board remains responsible for compliance with traffic regulations during operation. For vehicles capable of operating without any human intervention, legal accountability transfers entirely to the registered owner, who is treated as the responsible party under the law.
The updated provisions cover vehicle deregistration, legal accountability, traffic compliance, and accident-related responsibilities for autonomous vehicles. Owners of fully autonomous vehicles must now obtain approval from the relevant authority before a vehicle’s traffic record can be canceled, a procedural safeguard designed to ensure all technical and regulatory obligations are discharged prior to deregistration. The amendments also extend existing traffic obligations to autonomous vehicles, including adherence to road signs, traffic signals, right-of-way rules, and procedures governing emergency vehicles and official convoys.
Penalties and Enforcement Extended to the Full Range of Traffic Offenses
The regulatory amendments bring fully autonomous vehicles squarely within the enforcement regime that applies to conventional motor vehicles. Traffic offenses covered under the regulations include fines, vehicle impoundment, and other penalties stipulated under Saudi traffic laws. The General Directorate of Traffic stated that the intent of the amendments is to facilitate the operation of autonomous vehicles capable of making driving decisions independently, regardless of whether a human driver is present. The ministry also specified that conventional driver-authorization requirements will not apply to vehicles operating entirely without human intervention.
A Layered Regulatory Architecture Built Over Three Years
The Interior Ministry amendments sit atop a regulatory architecture that has been under construction since 2024. The core framework governing on-road use of fully and partially autonomous vehicles combines technical regulations issued by the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) with Volume 801 of the Saudi Highway Code (SHC 801), issued by the General Authority for Roads. The SASO regulations define technical requirements and the roles and responsibilities of market participants, while SHC 801 sets requirements for infrastructure readiness and safety oversight.
SASO published draft technical regulations for autonomous vehicles in June 2025, covering conformity assessment procedures and product compliance requirements. The public consultation period closed on June 30, 2025. The SASO technical regulations and SHC 801 came into force in April 2026, with the Transport General Authority (TGA) already applying the framework through controlled pilot deployment before that date. Manufacturers and importers of autonomous vehicle technology are required to undergo testing and certification via SASO’s SABER platform. During pilot phases, vehicles must be geofenced to approved zones, and real-time monitoring by the TGA is mandatory.
WeRide and Uber Already Operating Under the Framework in Riyadh
The regulatory update formalises legal ground that has already been tested operationally. In July 2025, WeRide was granted Saudi Arabia’s first robotaxi autonomous driving permit following completion of the TGA’s Regulatory Sandbox for AV Piloting, making WeRide the only technology company at that time with autonomous driving permits in six countries. The pilot, launched under TGA oversight on public roads, covered King Khalid International Airport and key areas across Riyadh, including major highways and selected city-center destinations, with the initial fleet provided by WeRide and made available through the Uber platform.
Public operations subsequently began with dedicated routes between Roshn Front and Princess Noura University, marking the first time autonomous vehicles were available on the Uber platform in Saudi Arabia. The TGA reported successful completion of the pilot in late October 2025, with more than 1,000 users participating. Local partner Ai Driver was involved alongside WeRide and Uber throughout the pilot program.
Saudi Arabia’s Owner-Liability Model Diverges From the Gulf’s Operator Standard
The choice to assign liability to the vehicle owner rather than the licensed operator sets Saudi Arabia’s approach somewhat apart from the model adopted in neighbouring Dubai. Under Dubai Law No. 9 of 2023, liability for compensation rests with the licensed operator when an autonomous vehicle causes damage to individuals or property, with the operator retaining rights to defend claims on grounds of causation. In Dubai’s framework, the operator is the entity approved by the Roads and Transport Authority to conduct autonomous vehicle activities and is responsible for day-to-day operations, compliance, and primary civil liability, with rights to reallocate risks against responsible third parties contractually or through insurance.
Academic analysis of global frameworks published in January 2026 in the World Electric Vehicle Journal identifies four main liability regimes for autonomous driving incidents: driver liability, system liability, manufacturer or operator liability, and composite liability. Saudi Arabia’s June 2026 amendments most closely reflect an owner liability model, which places accountability on the party who controls the vehicle asset rather than on the technology provider or the platform operator. This approach may have implications for how fleet operators, insurers, and manufacturers structure commercial arrangements in the Kingdom.
Vision 2030 Targets Require Legal Certainty at Scale
The regulatory progression reflects the scale of autonomous mobility commitments embedded in Vision 2030. The Transport General Authority’s land transport strategy targets the conversion of approximately 15% of public transport vehicles and 25% of goods transport vehicles to autonomous operation by 2030. Saudi Arabia has also been installing smart communication devices along roadways designed to interact with autonomous vehicles in real time, relaying road condition data to support safe driving decisions.
The Saudi autonomous vehicle market was valued at approximately USD 1 billion in 2024 and is projected by IMARC Group to reach USD 6.1 billion by 2033, reflecting a compound annual growth rate of around 22 percent. The gap between that market trajectory and the legal infrastructure needed to support commercial-scale operations was a persistent concern among operators and investors active in the Kingdom. The June 2026 amendments, taken together with the SASO technical regulations and SHC 801 in force since April, close a significant portion of that gap.
