Hands off the wheel: Establishing a regime for autonomous vehicles committing the offences of careless, reckless and dangerous driving

Abstract

Autonomous, driverless vehicles are the next frontier in automotive technology. For these vehicles to be an accepted, legally compliant addition to society they must be subject to the driving laws which seek to regulate and promote good behaviour on the roads. This paper seeks to establish a liability regime for autonomous vehicles committing the offences of careless, reckless and dangerous driving. The current law is insufficient to deal with liability when the offences are committed by autonomous vehicles. Manufacturers cannot be held liable and there may be no liability at all. Liability for an offence should rest with those responsible or that offence being committed. This may be the manufacturer through defective design, or the operator through careless or reckless use of the autonomous vehicle. Michael Cameron’s book Realising the Potential of Driverless Vehicles sets out appropriate and workable legislation. It brings certain autonomous vehicle behaviour under the heading driverless vehicle offence and provides possible defendants and statutory defences for those defendants. His proposal should be adopted for carless, reckless and dangerous driving offences, with the clarification that the mens rea of the defendant is still relevant.