Civil liability in damages caused by self-driving vehicles

Of all the topics facing legislators the question of the regulation of automated vehicles is one of the most difficult. It combines legal, philosophical and economic problems in a way that the law has not had to deal with in living memory.This is a fledgling area where the pace of innovation is rapid and the Governments are aware that it faces an immediate problem when considering legislating in this area. If it moves too quickly and over legislates there is the danger of suppressing innovation and killing potentially beneficial technologies before they can be developed. On the other hand, if legislation is delayed too much there is the danger that the public will be insufficiently protected.The UK government has been admirably proactive in trying to grapple with this and other problems. The Centre for Connected and Automated Vehicles (centre for connected and autonomous vehicles) has been established and is at the cutting edge of current thinking. The government through CCAV are providing £۲۵۰m, backed by industry for research and development projects. Legislation has also been moved forward, cautiously. The Automated and Electric Vehicles Act ۲۰۱۸ has put into law some certainties, definitions and clarity of civil liability but as we will see, a host of problems remain. In an attempt to gather feedback from experts Government has, through the Law Commission, launched a consultation paper – ‘Automated Vehicles- A joint preliminary consultation paper’ dated ۸th November ۲۰۱۸, to examine options for regulating automated road vehicles. The consultation period is ۳ years, from March ۲۰۱۸ to March ۲۰۲۱ and given the pace of change in this area many commentators have wondered whether the parameters for consultation will still be relevant in ۲۰۲۱.The government sets sensible parameters for regulation, their focus being on autonomous vehicles being used:a) Lawfully;b) Safely; andc) With appropriate mechanisms being in place for the attribution of civil and criminal liability when things go wrong.The below article examines the headline problems that the Law faces in dealing with the challenge of autonomous vehicles and ponders whether at present, there are more questions than answers.

کلیدواژه ها:

civil responsibility ، self-driving vehicles ، damages ، driving