There is an open consultation on the proposed leglislation:
Self-driving vehicles: new safety ambition
Seeks views on our proposed safety ambition for self-driving vehicles to form the foundation of a new self-driving vehicle safety framework.
My concerns are that:
1. the bar will be set at nothing less than perfection.
a "Competent and careful driver" should never crash due to a their fault.
2. There are different practical standards for a human driver and FSD with manufacturer responsibility.
e.g. a deer jumps out in front of a car. A human driver would not normally be held responsible, it would be seen a no-fault accident, the burden of
proof on any claimant would be to show the driver was negligent in not avoiding the crash.
A self-driving car would have to prove they could not avoid the accident.
3. Unless there are limits, courts could set punitive damages on manufacturers.
4. What about accidents that are not the self-driving car's fault, but which the self-driving car could take evasive action, either avoiding the crash
completely or mitigating it.
5. What about cases in which the self-driving car follows the rules of the road, or which takes action to avoid a protential accident, but which causes one.
e.g. a ball runs out into the road between two parked cars, self-driving car slams on the brakes thinking a child will run into the road, another car runs
into the back of the self-driving car.
6. How strictly does the self-driving car have to follow the highway code? Humans often take liberties. When the code changes does the self-driving car
have to obey the change.
7. Many crashes are avoided by one party taking evasive action or anticipating problems. Are self-driving cars expected to have such advanced driving
skills? If they are how is that measured.
