The UK government has shown support for fully autonomous vehicles to be in use by 2021, extending the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill from compulsory motor insurance to include autonomous vehicles.
The Bill maintains a single insurer model in which a motor insurer covers both the driver’s use of the vehicle and the autonomous vehicle technology, while allowing insurers a right of recovery from the manufacturer when the vehicle is at fault.
As part of the UK government’s 2017 budget announcements, Mark Hemsted, partner at Clyde & Co, said the government’s decision to spend £400 million on the country’s infrastructure to enable electric vehicles to charge will be “a big incentive for autonomous vehicle manufacturers as many of these will be electric.”
The Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill is expected to come into force in 2018.
“In order for a fully workable insurance system for autonomous vehicles to be implemented, a clear definition of autonomous vehicle is needed. This Bill will give us a workable definition, although there are fears it may be too broad,” Hemsted said.
“We expect to see insurers and manufacturers agree a recovery process so that insurers can easily claim from manufacturers when an autonomous vehicle is at fault. While the Bill retains quick and easy access to compensation for claimants, insurers need an equally efficient system of recovery.
“However, this is very much the first piece in the puzzle and we should expect further regulation as technology develops and the market gives its feedback.
“Driver training requirements will also need to be addressed. Legislative intervention to mandate this should be considered as soon as possible,” said Hemsted.
Clyde & Co warned that if the Bill’s definition of autonomous vehicles isn’t limited to vehicles that are fully autonomous and require no driver action, drivers could overly rely on non-autonomous vehicles, resulting in increased crash frequencies.
As data will be key to understanding the risks inherent in these vehicles, Clyde & Co said it expects to see further regulation concerning what data will need to be provided to insurers both prior to and following an accident.
The law firm added that using the Motor Insurers Bureau as a third-party clearing house for data could be a useful development that may satisfy stakeholders.
