With the first completely self-driving passenger cars likely to hit the road in the UK from spring 2026, following the recent decision of the Government to fast-track pilot schemes, Chris Sherliker takes a look at some of the complex legal issues involved.
You can almost hear it now.
Judge: “A driverless vehicle, you say! And what exactly is …..a driverless vehicle?”
Counsel: “A vehicle that drives itself, M’Lud. No-user-in-charge.”
Judge: “What? No user in charge!!”
“Who are The Beatles?” as High Court Judge, James Pickles is once alleged to have said.
Self-driving vehicles are no longer a futuristic talking point. They already freely roam the public throughfares in US cities and, here in the UK, Parliament has already created a bespoke statutory framework to regulate autonomous vehicles (AVs).
The courts in the UK have yet to build a body of reported case-law that squarely addresses the novel legal questions raised by AI decision-making by autonomous vehicles, but with motor insurance payouts in the second quarter of 2025 alone topping £3.1 billion (according to the Association of British Insurers), and RTA convictions for causing death or serious injury running into hundreds annually, it is inevitable that before long the Courts will be compelled to confront the complex liability issues inherent in accidents involving AI decision-making by AVs.
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