Who is liable for driverless vehicles?
REGULATORS WORKING ON LEGAL FRAMEWORK TO DETERMINE RESPONSIBILITY IN CASE OF ROAD ACCIDENTS
Although Masdar City launched an autonomous shuttle vehicle yesterday, the regulations for such driverless vehicles to ply on public roads are not yet ready because of the challenges involved.
“Who is liable in case of an accident or death caused by a driverless vehicle – the manufacturer or the vehicle operator [or anybody else involved in the chain]?
“Regulators across the globe are still trying to find the answer to formulate a legal framework,” said Ebrahim Sarhan Al Hammoudi, acting executive director — Surface Transport Sector at the Department of Transport (DoT) in Abu Dhabi.
However, the DoT is keenly watching many available technologies of autonomous vehicles as they can reduce road accidents and fatalities. “At the moment 94 per cent of accidents are caused by drivers [human error] in Abu Dhabi emirate,” he said.
Presently very few companies offer autonomous vehicle technology in the world but none has received approval from regulators [to ply on public roads], Al Hammoudi said on the sidelines of the launch.
Capable of transporting up to 12 people, the shuttle will run on a 1km-route and seven more vehicles will be added to the fleet by next year.
The official said ensuring the safety of pedestrians is another challenge for regulators. “The technology has not matured enough to be adopted by us. However, global forecasts suggest that sound technologies will be available by 2025. Masdar will lead the push to bring such technologies here,” Al Hammoudi said.
He told Gulf News that Abu Dhabi will soon announce incentives for electric cars. “More than 50 charging stations are available at malls and high-density areas,” Al Hammoudi said.
Some companies have introduced cars that can be charged within 30 minutes, but they cost more than $100,000 (Dh367,000), the official said.
The shuttle represents the next phase of the city’s sustainable mobility network as it already has a Personal Rapid Transport system, which carried more than two million passengers in eight years.