The Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) has called on the government to introduce legislation that mandates the collection and availability of collision data related to driverless cars.
The call to action comes during a period of government consultation on the topic of driverless vehicles, with the Department for Transport recently closing a three-month request for information on the subject.
APIL also requested that any data relating to such compensation cases should be “retained and protected from being wiped as it could prove to be vital evidence”.
Personal injury lawyer Gordon Dalyell explained that it was important that the law keeps pace with changes to automated vehicle technology, so that personal injury claimants can more readily seek appropriate redress.
Dalyell – a partner at law firm Digby Brown and APIL member – continued: “If someone is injured through no fault of their own and a driverless car is involved, they must be allowed to see any data held on the vehicle as it could be vital to their claim for compensation, which will support them through their injury.”
That data, he added, might reveal if there had been safety concerns or failings that would be relevant to legal cases.
Duty to disclose
He concluded: “The proposals being drawn up say that companies such as manufacturers, which will hold data on these vehicles, should have a duty to disclose the information to insurers and regulators, which is right.
“But this same duty of disclosure must also apply for injured people and their legal representatives.
“It must be shared so injured people are not left to fight huge companies for access to data that could be vital to proving a driverless car caused them harm.”
