Automated And Electric Vehicles Act 2018 Completes Journey And Receives Royal Assent

Amidst the continued testing of autonomous vehicle technology ahead of its impending introduction into everyday life, the Government's key piece of legislation on how these vehicles should be insured, and who is liable in the event of a collision involving an autonomous vehicle, has passed.

The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act ("the Act") received Royal Assent on 20 July 2018.

What does the Act deal with?

The Secretary of State is required to prepare, update and publish a list of all vehicles that are designed or adapted to be "capable of safely driving themselves". The 'single insurer' approach is introduced whereby the injured party (including the automated vehicle 'driver') will be able to claim compensation from the insurer of the automated vehicle. In turn, the insurer has a right of recovery from vehicle and software manufacturers. Where an accident is caused by an automated vehicle, insurers will be liable for "death or personal injury" or any other damage - save for damage to the vehicle itself - arising from the collision. This provision covers not only third parties involved in a collision, but also the insured owner of the vehicle in question. Insurers are then entitled to claim against the party responsible for the crash, such as the manufacturer or other driver. The principles of contributory negligence are maintained - specifically excluding insurers' liability where the accident was wholly due to the insured driver's "negligence in allowing the vehicle to begin driving itself when it was not appropriate to do so". When a circumstance is deemed to be 'inappropriate' will likely be left to interpretation within case law. Insurers are also provided with the ability to exclude liability if the accident is found to directly result from the insured installing software beyond that permitted under the policy or failing to update software that the insured knew or "ought reasonably" to have known was safety-critical. It remains to be seen what safeguards manufacturers will place on vehicles to prevent the installation of unauthorised third-party software and/or prevent vehicle owners from ignoring safety-critical updates. What happens next?

The substantive elements of the Act will be enforced once secondary regulations confirming the date of implementation are passed. However, the passing of the Act is merely one part of the journey to an autonomous future.

The Law Commission is currently aiming to publish a scoping paper for...