What just happened?
The UK government and car industry have teamed up to launch a new initiative researching, testing, and trialing driverless car technology within British cities.[1] Dubbed ServCity, this Nissan-backed project forms part of the UK’s £100m ‘Intelligent Mobility’ fund and will run for two and a half years.[2]
What does this mean?
ServCity is but the latest manifestation of the government’s enthusiasm to push for autonomous vehicles. Last year, one prototype carried passengers for the first time on UK roads.[3] In early 2020, a specially modified Nissan travelled 230 miles from Nissan’s Technical Centre in Bedfordshire to its Sunderland factory in the North East. The longest autonomous journey made on British roads to date.[4]
With automated vehicles worth an estimated £52 billion to the UK economy by 2035,[5] it is clear to see why the government is in favour of the technology.
But the biggest, and most controversial plan for the moment comes in the form of hands-free motorway driving, currently in the consultation stage.
Automatic Lane Keeping System (ALKS) is an attempt to bridge the gap between fully driver-controlled and fully autonomous vehicles. ALKS controls the car’s movement within a motorway lane up to speeds of 37 mph; it must, however, be activated by the driver.[6]
ALKS is the clearest sign yet that the government wants automation to become part of the future of transport. Their efforts may be bearing fruit - KPMG, in its 2019 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index, rank the UK 7th out of 25 countries.[7]
Nevertheless, it will be a while before fully autonomous vehicles become a mainstay on UK roads. Technical issues linger. Poor weather and unclear lane markings pose a problem for ALKS, and there is the wider question of the extent to which driverless cars are able to react when other human drivers act illogically or erratically. Then, there are issues in the form of consumer uptake and ethical resistance, which will inevitably surge whenever there is a fatal collision between driverless cars and pedestrians.
What does this mean for the legal sector?
The increased implementation of driverless cars will have serious consequences on the legal industry in the shape of liability, data protection issues, and, more positively, commercial opportunities.
Relevant legislation dates from 2018 with the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act (AEVA), have modernised insurance law and ensured that motorists are covered even when the vehicle is in autonomous mode.
However, it remains unclear how exactly ‘automated’ should be interpreted. Bristol-based law firm Burges Salmon argues that the AEVA definition is too broad, since there are six separate levels of automation.[8] Cracks in the legislation at this stage may lead to future complications in regard to liability for insurance claims.
With vehicles becoming increasingly automated, they will generate and process more and more data. In the last two to three years, there has been a rapid expansion in EU data protection laws and directives, of which GDPR, enacted in 2018, is just the most well-known example. So, if the UK continues to push the technology, law firms will need to advise their clients on compliance.
Nevertheless, to look at automation as merely a litany of threats to which clients must passively respond would be to forgo the commercial opportunities this technology will provide.
Cars are moving from hardware to software, one-time purchases to a more subscription-based model. Tesla, for instance, offer over-the-air software updates to drivers to increase on a regular basis the number of functions at their disposal.
Besides, driverless cars thrive on interconnectivity and, therefore, encourage collaboration between software suppliers, internet service providers, machine learning companies et cetera, which may lead to more M&A activity.[9]
For good or for bad, scientific developments in artificial intelligence have changed what it means to drive a car. The UK government has spoken. Now it is time for the legal sector to respond.
Written by Tom Higgins Toon
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References:
[1] Will Trinkwon, ‘Nissan-backed Servcity autonomous research project launches’, Autocar (12 October 2020).
[2] Ibid.
[3] Mike Wright, ‘Driverless cars to carry human passengers on UK roads for first time’, Daily Telegraph (24 October 2019).
[4] Alastair Charlton, ‘A Nissan car just drove itself 230 miles, setting a new UK record’, Forbes (5 February 2020).
[5] ‘UK wants fully autonomous cars on road’, BBC News (6 February 2019).
[6] Pinsent Masons, ‘UK government consults on driverless cars on motorways’ (25 August 2020).
[7] KPMG, ‘2019 Autonomous Vehicles Readiness Index’, p.20.
[8] Burges Salmon, ‘Burges Salmon response to joint Law Commission and Scottish Law Commission preliminary consultation paper dated 8 November 2018 on Automated Vehicles’ (8 November 2018), p.4.
[9] Bird & Bird, ‘Autonomous driving’.
Disclaimer: This article (and any information accessed through links in this article) is provided for information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.