Driverless cars should have a game changing impact on the road toll.  But it is also inevitable that they will fail from time to time, and fatalities will occur. In managing the transition to increasingly automated vehicles, our regulators need to keep their eyes on the end game.

Self-driving vehicles promise significant safety benefits, as they could reduce or eliminate human error and dangerous human choices as a cause of serious accidents – factors which presently account for up to 94 per cent of serious crashes. However, self-driving technology is still emerging, and errors or deficiencies in this technology could cause road accidents. As the technology matures, it is expected that the net effect will be a significant improvement in road safety outcomes, but there could be some teething issues along the way.

There is a community expectation that governments will play a role in ensuring the safety of self-driving vehicles. Driver licensing laws, which require drivers to demonstrate that they are competent to drive, will cease to play any role in ensuring road safety when the entire dynamic driving task, including watching the road, is performed by an automated driving system. Accordingly, governments need to determine how they will ensure that the automated driving system is competent to perform the dynamic driving task.

A recent publication by Australia’s National Transport Commission (NTC) provides a good steer on how Australian governments are likely to perform this role. This article considers the emerging approach and its implications.

Last week, the Transport and Infrastructure Council met to consider the NTC's recommendations on how Australia's driving laws should be changed to support automated vehicles. Unfortunately, it appears not much progress was made.

It’s becoming apparent that connected and automated vehicle technology will have a profound impact on mobility.

There are, however, various obstacles that must first be navigated to realise this new mobility future. It’s important that we navigate these obstacles sooner rather than later and welcome this imminent change.

This joint white paper presents a roadmap to prepare Australia for the transition. It takes a complex regulatory system and puts in place sensible and achievable processes and protections to enable future transport technology.

New government-endorsed guidelines to assist police officers to enforce traffic laws in respect of driverless vehicles miss the opportunity to capture significant p[rodictivity benefits

Who should be liable for the speeding fine, if your driverless vehicle exceeds the speed limit?

In 2016, Owen Hayford led the development of two seminal reports on legal issues associated with driverless vehicles:

• Driving into the future: Regulating driverless vehicles in Australia; and

• Steering the course for future driverless vehicle regulation in Australia.

You can access both via this link

Australia's Transport Ministers are proposing a different road to the US in allocating legal responsibility for the next generation of automated vehicles - with the Australian position favouring manufacturers over drivers.

The US Federal Automated Vehicles Policy is a critical step forward for that nation, and gives Australia a potential blueprint for the evolution of our regulatory framework

Australia’s Transport Ministers have taken another important step in developing a legal framework that can support the safe, commercial deployment of more highly automated vehicles in Australia.

How will people who are injured in an accident caused by a self-driving vehicle obtain compensation? Will Australia’s existing motor accident insurance arrangements respond to personal injury claims in the same way they presently do for human driven crashes?

And who should ultimately fund the insurance pool that pays this compensation? Should the funding burden continue to fall on owners of motor vehicles via compulsory third party insurance premiums, or should the burden shift to vehicle manufacturers and others involved in the design, manufacture, operation and maintenance of automated driving systems?

This article suggests how Australian Governments might approach these matters.

The risk of mass surveillance of automated and connected vehicle users by government needs to be addressed