In 2017, the government published the Automated and Electric
Vehicles Bill, which would extend compulsory motor insurance, to
include product liability for motorists using driverless vehicles. The
legislation will mean a single insurer will cover both the driver’s
use of the vehicle and the automated vehicle technology, so that if
a driverless vehicle is found to have caused an accident, the victim
will be able to claim directly from the insurer. The insurer will in
turn have a right of recovery against the responsible party, which
may include the vehicle’s manufacturer. The Bill is currently at the
committee stage in the House of Lords.
In October 2016, the European Commission announced that it
would be undertaking an expanded review of the Product Liability
Directive, including a formal evaluation designed to examine its
effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value.
The evaluation was to examine the key features of the Directive
and determine if it was still fit for purpose, particularly in the light
of technological developments and progress such as the ‘Internet
of Things’. A consultation on the evaluation ran from January to
April 2017. Detailed results regarding stakeholder feedback were
published. The majority of respondents found the Directive struck a
fair balance between the interests of producers and consumers but
for some technological products (eg, software or automated tasks),
its application might be uncertain. In March 2018, the European
Commission published a call for experts on liability and new technologies as part of this evaluation. It is not yet known if or when any
concrete proposals for a revised directive will be issued
You can view the pdf by this link.