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Autonomous Vehicles: Ethical Decisions and the Impact on Insurance Claims
Introduction
Recent changes to UK law have brought the prospect of autonomous vehicles to the roads one step closer. The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 has endeavoured to add further clarity to the previous Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 by providing a framework and space for regulations in the future.
One of the principles from the 2018 Act was the introduction of compulsory ‘single insurer’ insurance, whereby both the driver and any victim of an accident involving and caused by a specific Autonomous Vehicle (AV) will have recourse from an insurer in the first instance. Resolving the legal issues in connection with autonomous driving has proven to be problematic and complex. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 states that the insurance company is liable if the self-driving vehicle crashes when ‘driving itself’. These costs may be then recovered from the manufacturer, operator or software provider.
A number of safety principles have been established in the 2024 Act including ‘that authorised automated vehicles will achieve a level of safety equivalent to, or higher than, that of careful and competent human drivers’, along with a requirement for the Secretary of State to consult organisations that appear to them to represent the interests of AV manufacturers, road users, and road safety’.
The 2024 Act, covering England, Wales and Scotland only, has seven parts with principles for a regulatory scheme, circumstances for criminal liability and powers for policing and investigation. It sets out the understanding that should a vehicle be in self-driving mode the driver would not be held accountable. Instead, insurance providers, software creators and vehicle manufacturers will take on this responsibility. It is important to note that the 2024 Act applies to vehicles that would be considered at Levels 3 – 5 under the Society of Automotive Engineers Scale of Automation.
The 2024 Act makes an important liability distinction between those considered a ‘user-in-charge’ and ‘no-user-in-charge’. The former is where the user is available to take control of the vehicle but may not have done so, whereby when there is ‘no user’ then the manufacturer will have responsibility for any issues that subsequently arise on the journey.
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