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Driverless cars are coming to Britain – that is the message from the Government, who are determined to get the UK to the front of the innovation market when it comes to the autonomous vehicles.
Now the Department for Transport has announced a major consultation into the subject, giving drivers the chance to share their views on the potential future of the technology and sharing the roads with such vehicles.
This is what we learned from the announcement.
According to the Government, the Highway Code and other rules of the road will be altered so that it is possible for autonomous cars to be insured to drive on UK roads.
The Department for Transport also said that the Highway Code will be tweaked so that driver assistance systems, such as those that can change lanes on a motorway as well as remotely park cars, can be used safely.
That’s the reward from the Intelligent Mobility Fund for winning a new competition the Government is set to launch next month. The aim is to find new, innovative connected and autonomous vehicle technology that can then be funded further.
According to the consultation, the Government expects driving assistance technologies to be on sale in Britain “in the next 2 to 4 years”, with fully automated cars on the roads “from the mid-2020s onwards.”
The main points at the centre of the consultation, which will last for nine weeks, are focused on changes to the law that would make it easier for driver assistance technologies and then autonomous cars to make their way on to our roads.
The first is the change to the Highway Code – this proposal will acknowledge and support the safe use of remote control parking and motorway assist features.
The second proposed change revolves around insurance law, and will be presented as part of the Modern Transport Bill. This will be altered to specify that even when a driver hands over control to their vehicle, their insurance would still cover them.
Insurers would still pay out to victims in the event of an accident, however they will also have the power to claim their money back from car companies should the vehicle be found to be at fault.
