Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 2018 c. 18 |
| Year | 2018 |
Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018
2018 CHAPTER 18
An Act to make provision about automated vehicles and electric vehicles.
[19th July 2018]
B
e it enacted
by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
(1)
The Secretary of State must prepare, and keep up to date, a list of all motor vehicles that—
(a)
are in the Secretary of State's opinion designed or adapted to be capable, in at least some circumstances or situations, of safely driving themselves, and
(b)
may lawfully be used when driving themselves, in at least some circumstances or situations, on roads or other public places in Great Britain.
(2)
The list may identify vehicles—
(a)
by type,
(b)
by reference to information recorded in a registration document issued under regulations made under section 22 of the Vehicle Excise and Registration Act 1994, or
(c)
in some other way.
(3)
The Secretary of State must publish the list when it is first prepared and each time it is revised.
(4)
In this Part “
automated vehicle
” means a vehicle listed under this section.
Commencement Information
I1
S. 1 in force at 21.4.2021 by S.I. 2021/396, reg. 3(a)
(1)
Where—
(a)
an accident is caused by an automated vehicle when driving itself on a road or other public place in Great Britain,
(b)
the vehicle is insured at the time of the accident, and
(c)
an insured person or any other person suffers damage as a result of the accident,
the insurer is liable for that damage.
(2)
Where—
(a)
an accident is caused by an automated vehicle when driving itself on a road or other public place in Great Britain,
(b)
the vehicle is not insured at the time of the accident,
(c)
section 143 of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (users of motor vehicles to be insured or secured against third-party risks) does not apply to the vehicle at that time—
(i)
because of section 144(2) of that Act (exemption for public bodies
etc
), or
(ii)
because the vehicle is in the public service of the Crown, and
(d)
a person suffers damage as a result of the accident,
the owner of the vehicle is liable for that damage.
(3)
In this Part “
damage
” means death or personal injury, and any damage to property other than—
(a)
the automated vehicle,
(b)
goods carried for hire or reward in or on that vehicle or in or on any trailer (whether or not coupled) drawn by it, or
(c)
property in the custody, or under the control, of—
(i)
the insured person (where subsection (1) applies), or
(ii)
the person in charge of the automated vehicle at the time of the accident (where subsection (2) applies).
(4)
In respect of damage to property caused by, or arising out of, any one accident involving an automated vehicle, the amount of the liability under this section of the insurer or owner of the vehicle is limited to the amount for the time being specified in section 145(4)(b) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 (limit on compulsory insurance for property damage).
(5)
This section has effect subject to section 3.
(6)
Except as provided by section 4, liability under this section may not be limited or excluded by a term of an insurance policy or in any other way.
(7)
The imposition by this section of liability on the insurer or vehicle owner does not affect any other person's liability in respect of the accident.
Commencement Information
I2
S. 2 in force at 21.4.2021 by S.I. 2021/396, reg. 3(a)
(1)
Where—
(a)
an insurer or vehicle owner is liable under section 2 to a person (“the injured party”) in respect of an accident, and
(b)
the accident, or the damage resulting from it, was to any extent caused by the injured party,
the amount of the liability is subject to whatever reduction under the Law Reform (Contributory Negligence) Act 1945 would apply to a claim in respect of the accident brought by the injured party against a person other than the insurer or vehicle owner.
(2)
The insurer or owner of an automated vehicle is not liable under section 2 to the person in charge of the vehicle where the accident that it caused was wholly due to the person's negligence in allowing the vehicle to begin driving itself when it was not appropriate to do so.
Commencement Information
I3
S. 3 in force at 21.4.2021 by S.I. 2021/396, reg. 3(a)
(1)
An insurance policy in respect of an automated vehicle may exclude or limit the insurer's liability under section 2(1) for damage suffered by an insured person arising from an accident occurring as a direct result of—
(a)
software alterations made by the insured person, or with the insured person's knowledge, that are prohibited under the policy, or
(b)
a failure to install safety-critical software updates that the insured person knows, or ought reasonably to know, are safety-critical.
(2)
But as regards liability for damage suffered by an insured person who is not the holder of the policy, subsection (1)(a) applies only in relation to software alterations which, at the time of the accident, the person knows are prohibited under the policy.
(3)
Subsection (4) applies where an amount is paid by an insurer under section 2(1) in respect of damage suffered, as a result of an accident, by someone who is not insured under the policy in question.
(4)
If the accident occurred as a direct result of—
(a)
software alterations made by an insured person, or with an insured person's knowledge, that were prohibited under the policy, or
(b)
a failure to install safety-critical software updates that an insured person knew, or ought reasonably to have known, were safety-critical,
the amount paid by the insurer is recoverable from that person to the extent provided for by the policy.
(5)
But as regards recovery from an insured person who is not the holder of the policy, subsection (4)(a) applies only in relation to software alterations which, at the time of the accident, the person knew were prohibited under the policy.
(6)
For the purposes of this section—
(a)
“software alterations” and “
software updates
”, in relation to an automated vehicle, mean (respectively) alterations and updates to the vehicle's software;
(b)
software updates are “safety-critical” if it would be unsafe to use the vehicle in question without the updates being installed.
Commencement Information
I4
S. 4 in force at 21.4.2021 by S.I. 2021/396, reg. 3(a)
(1)
Where—
(a)
section 2 imposes on an insurer, or the owner of a vehicle, liability to a person who has suffered damage as a result of an accident (“the injured party”), and
(b)
the amount of the insurer's or vehicle owner's liability to the injured party in respect of the accident (including any liability not imposed by section 2) is settled,
any other person liable to the injured party in respect of the accident is under the same liability to the insurer or vehicle owner.
(2)
For the purposes of this section, the...
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