UK says autonomous-car makers responsible for crashes, not drivers

The UK Government will introduce a law which places responsibility for autonomous-car crashes on the vehicle’s manufacturer, rather than the driver behind the steering wheel – despite recent legal cases in the US placing blame the other way.

News agency Reuters reports the UK Government and King Charles III have announced the country’s Automated Vehicles Bill will be among the legislation to be prioritised before next year’s general election.

“My Ministers will introduce new legal frameworks to support the safe commercial development of emerging industries, such as self-driving vehicles,” King Charles III said in his first speech to Parliament.

In a media statement, the UK Government said the onus of responsibility for operating autonomous vehicles, also known as ‘self-driving’ cars, will be on the manufacturers who build the vehicle, instead of its driver – even in the event of a crash.

"While the vehicle is driving itself, a company rather than an individual will be responsible for the way it drives," the government said, as reported by Reuters.

Industry experts told Reuters the announcement will not only help UK companies invest and develop autonomous cars in the country, but also allow a framework to be built which can support insurance companies as the technology becomes more widespread.

While the UK Government passed legislation in April 2023 which allows drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel of semi-autonomous cars with the appropriate systems, the Ford Mustang Mach-E is currently the only model capable of doing so within the boundaries of the law.

In Australia, the highest level of semi-autonomous driving systems approved for local roads does not allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel.

The UK’s proposal to remove responsibility for autonomous-car crashes from the driver behind the steering wheel contrasts recent legal cases in the US, where manufacturers of ‘self-driving’ cars have been cleared of fault after fatal crashes.

Earlier this week, US electric-car giant Tesla won a landmark trial relating to a motorist’s death in one of its vehicles which was allegedly being operated in its semi-autonomous driving mode at the time.

In 2019, 37-year-old Micah Lee was killed when the Tesla Model 3 he was driving in California veered off the road at 105km/h and into a palm tree, splitting its battery pack which led to the electric car catching fire.

In addition to killing Mr Lee, two passengers in the Tesla – which included an eight-year-old boy – were seriously injured in the crash.

While Mr Lee’s family and lawyers argued the Tesla’s ‘Autopilot’ semi-autonomous driving software was defective and directly led to the fatal crash, a 12-person jury voted the Tesla Model 3 did not have a manufacturing defect – clearing the electric-car giant of any fault.

The case followed another fatal crash-related trial in July, where the driver of a Tesla which killed two motorists after running a red light – while being operated in its so-called 'Autopilot' mode – was sentenced to house arrest and community service but avoided jail time. 

Kevin George Aziz Riad became the first reported driver of a semi-autonomous car to be charged for their role in a fatal crash after his Tesla Model S sedan – operating in its ‘Autopilot’ semi-autonomous mode – exited a freeway and ran a red light in south-east Los Angeles. 

The Tesla crashed into a stationary Honda Civic at 119km/h, killing the two occupants of the Honda – Gilberto Lopez and Maria Guadalupe Nieves-Lopez – while Mr Riad and his passenger were hospitalised with non-life threatening injuries.

Mr Riad pleaded no contest to two counts of vehicular manslaughter – allowing him to avoid an admission of guilt but accept the conviction – and was sentenced to two years of probation, 31 days of work service, 100 hours of community service, 90 days of house arrest, and a “hospital and morgue program”.