On the 20th of May 2024 the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 was passed paving the way for vehicle manufacturers to start getting consent to launch driverless vehicles in the UK as one of the first countries to get past the concept stage and move on to authorisation for use on UK roads.
Using government statistics this new law should add around 38,000 skilled jobs and an industry value estimated at £42 Billion per year. All this with the aim of reducing road traffic incidents which at this time around 88% are down to driver error.
The new legislation indemnifies the persons inside the vehicle from liability when the vehicle is in self driving mode, we say person’s because if the car is driving its self we don’t considered driver an accurate description anymore.
The new act also opens up the ability for disabled persons who never could drive before to get on the road.
Although the act doesn’t reference it, I can personally see it reducing load on Emergency Services across the nation, with significant reduction in DUI’s alleviating strain on police forces, reducing car wreaks freeing up fire service resources and enabling people to get to Hospital without needing an ambulance reducing strain on them whilst at the same time reducing how many people are in hospital for road incidents.
