The UK Government has revealed details of a new law allowing autonomous vehicles to be allowed on public roads in the UK from 2025. In the event of an accident, however, the manufacturer of the car is held liable, not the possible ‘driver’.
The plans of the United Kingdom are intended on the one hand to “take full advantage of the emerging market of self-driving vehicles”, but are also aimed at the safe application of the technology. This is partly why more than 100 million pounds are being invested in the sector. At the time of writing, roughly a third of that amount has already been committed to research into how self-driving cars perform, for example in bad weather conditions or in combination with pedestrians, other vehicles and cyclists.
Furthermore, the UK government emphatically says that manufacturers will be held liable for any accidents.
“The legislation builds on existing laws and states that manufacturers are responsible for the actions of self-driving vehicles. In other words, a human driver is not liable for incidents while driving as long as the vehicle operated autonomously.”
For now, self-driving vehicles are not allowed in the UK. According to the Ministry of Transport, certain autonomous vehicles such as buses and trucks could be found on motorways as early as 2024.
