Drivers WON’T pay speeding fine if they drive a certain type of car, lawyers say

LAWYERS have pointed out that soon motorists won’t have to pay speeding fines if they have a certain type of car.

The Law Commission – the government’s legal advisers – have said that the owners of self-driving cars may not be criminally liable if their robot car makes a mistake.

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Self-driving cars are set to be the future of domestic transport, as the UK plans to replace combustion engines with electric-powered motors.

Manufacturers such as Tesla are leading the charge for driverless technology, with futuristic technology no longer the stuff of sci-fi movies.

The Highway Code is now consulting on what rules will be put into new laws to make sure the technology is safely used.

And the proposals announced on January 26, 2022, mean someone behind the wheel of a self-driving car should not be legally responsible if it is involved in a crash – or if it goes over the speed limit.

Currently, if the owner is driving the car then any errors are their fault.

A joint report by legal review bodies recommended that a clear distinction is made between features which just assist drivers, such as adaptive cruise control, and those that are self-driving.

The Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission called for legal reforms that mean the person in the driving seat of a self-driving car would be immune from prosecution “if anything goes wrong”, such as speeding or running a red light.

Under the plan, the company or body that obtained authorisation for the technology – the authorised self-driving entity – would instead face sanctions.

Whoever is in the driving seat would remain responsible for other duties such as obtaining insurance, checking loads and ensuring child passengers wear seat belts.

Different brands ranging from Google to Ford are planning to make driverless cars, and so there is bound to be some variation in the vehicles that eventually roll onto the market.

In a nutshell, self-driving cars have technology fitted that allows them to navigate and be aware of their environment without the need for a human driver.

This means each vehicle is fitted with a GPS unit, an internal navigation system and sensors including a laser rangefinder, radar, and video.

Sensor data allows them to create a 3D image of their environment.