Under legal reforms proposed by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission, self-driving car users would have immunity from offenses like dangerous driving, breaking speed limits and running red lights.
The MobilityX self-driving conference is in Dublin, Ireland.
The commission recommended that legal responsibility for accidents caused by self-driving vehicles should not be with the person in the driver's seat, but with the company or body that obtained authorization for the self-driving features used by the vehicle.
The minister hoped the report would build public confidence in self-driving technology that could make everyday travel safer and more eco-friendly.
Legal liability for violations by vehicles using automated driving technology rests with the driver, as technology currently available to consumers falls short of full self-drive.
David Harkey, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said on Thursday that they would release safety ratings for vehicles that use partial automation.
In October, Kevin George Aziz Riad, 27, was charged with two felony counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence in connection with the deadly wreck in Gardena, California of a 2016 Tesla Model S that used an autopilot feature, the first instance in the U.S. of a driver.
In May, a 25-year-old man was charged with two counts of reckless driving after setting a car to drive him around the San Francisco Bay Area on autopilot and relaxing in the back seat.
Billions of dollars have been invested in the development of self-driving vehicle technology. There are currently no vehicles on the road that are truly self-sufficient, with the current generation of commercially available systems capable of doing little more than keeping vehicles in marked lanes and automatically braking when a hazard is detected. Even if technology is able to drive itself, human intervention will still be necessary to service the vehicles and prevent illegal activity, according to the MIT researcher. There is no legal definition of self-driving technology in the United Kingdom, and the legal reforms proposed by the Law Commission of England and Wales and the Scottish Law Commission may only apply to technology that does not exist.
The Public Law Commissioner said that they have an opportunity to promote public acceptance of automated vehicles with their recommendations on safety assurance and clarify legal liability.
Self-driving car users would still have to carry auto insurance and make sure children wear seatbelts under the proposed legal reforms.
Legislation to put the recommendations into effect will be decided by authorities.
Musk predicted in 2015 that self-driving cars with unlimited mobility would be available by the end of the year.
If anything goes wrong, self- driving car users should not be responsible.
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