Driverless vehicles promise to eliminate (or at least substantially reduce) road accidents, massively increase the efficiency and utilisation of vehicles and transport infrastructure, eliminate time lost from driving in traffic and transform towns and cities by freeing parking and garage space.
As we witness global manufacturers and a panoply of new entrants race to develop fully driverless vehicles for the mass-market, an exciting new area of focus is the development of new laws regulating the testing and operation of driverless vehicles with a particular interest in the different approaches and level of progress in major markets throughout the world.
Our Global Driverless Vehicle Survey provides a high-level insight into the development and deployment of rules to accommodate automated driving for 33 jurisdictions. It provides an outline of the key themes arising from the intersection between the most advanced digital processing technology and mobility on a global scale.
- Legislation: The majority of respondent countries do not have specific regulations or rules relating to driverless vehicles
- Testing: Driverless vehicle testing has begun in public and private trials, and is likely to increase
- Government policy: The majority of jurisdictions' governments have expressed statements in favour of developing driverless vehicle technologies
- Liability: Potential liability issues associated with autonomous cars are not yet uniform, and therefore may require separate considerations of civil, criminal and product liability