Vehicle generated data regulatory sandbox : a legal design approach to policy prototyping for connected and automated vehicles

Regulating data generated by connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) presents complex challenges. Rapid technological development, implementation uncertainty and competing stakeholder interests create a difficult regulatory environment in which traditional approaches struggle to keep pace. Regulatory sandboxes offer a promising mechanism for addressing these challenges by enabling structured experimentation and policy prototyping within controlled settings. This article examines the governance issues associated with CAV data, reviews regulatory sandbox models in Australia and internationally, and proposes a Vehicle Generated Data Regulatory Sandbox grounded in a legal design approach. Conceived as a collaboration between government and industry, this model positions regulatory sandboxes as instruments of experimental governance for developing and testing regulatory frameworks for vehicle generated data. In doing so, it advances debate about how sandboxes can be used not merely to support innovation, but to prototype and evaluate regulatory responses to emerging data governance problems.