Part 1: Automated vehicles: Liability of insurers etc. Chapter 1: Policy Background
Automated vehicles are those that have the capability of driving themselves without human oversight or intervention for some, or all, of a journey. In an automated vehicle the driver can, in at least some circumstances or situations, hand all control and responsibility to the vehicle and effectively become a passenger, using it in automated mode. United Kingdom law on compulsory motor insurance has focused historically on ensuring that victims of road traffic collisions are compensated quickly and fairly. In the case of an automated vehicle being operated in automated mode, however, accidents could take place not as a result of human fault, but because of a failure in the vehicle itself, for which the only recourse available to an otherwise uninsured victim might be to sue the manufacturer through the courts. This Part extends compulsory motor vehicle insurance to cover the use of automated vehicles in automated mode, so that victims (including the ‘driver’) of an accident caused by a fault in the automated vehicle itself will be covered by the compulsory insurance in place on the vehicle. The insurer would be initially liable to pay compensation to any victim, including to the driver who had legitimately handed control to the vehicle. The insurer then would have the right to recover costs from the liable party under existing common and product law.
	On 11 July 2016 the Department for Transport published a consultation document entitled Pathway to Driverless Cars: proposals to support advanced driver assistance systems and automated vehicle technologies1. The consultation put forward proposals for the extension of the compulsory insurance requirement as set out above, so that victims would have a direct route of recovery through the insurer in the same way as they would if involved in a conventional collision where the driver was at fault.
	The Government published its response to this consultation on 6 January 2017 and confirmed its intention to bring forward its proposals.2