Driverless Vehicles: Criminal Liability
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the criminal liability framework applicable in cases where (a) autonomous and (b) connected vehicles cause (i) death and (ii) serious injury.
Answered by Simon Lightwood
With regard to autonomous vehicles, the Department has undertaken significant work to establish a revised liability framework, as enacted by the Automated Vehicles Act 2024. This Act follows the recommendations of the Law Commissions in 2024 that new legal entities be required to take liability when a vehicle is driving itself. These legal entities and their senior managers will be under a duty of candour requiring honest and transparent disclosures to Government, with failure to comply with this duty constituting a criminal offence (which may be aggravated in the case of death or serious injury).
This approach underpins the regime set out in the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 and consequent regulations. The Department is currently considering responses to the “Developing the Automated Vehicles Regulatory Framework” Call for Evidence, which relates to these regulations.
The facility to communicate beyond the vehicle, as connected vehicles do, does not of itself affect the liability of the driver under existing criminal law.
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