ABSTRACT
3.1 Third-party motor insurance for conventional vehicles is compulsory in the United Kingdom (UK) under the Road Traffic Act 1988 (RTA 1988). 1 Where a person is injured as a result of another’s use of a vehicle, insurance is provided to ensure compensation of that injured person. 2 However, adapting the RTA 1988 to cater for the absence of driver control in autonomous vehicles has been a significant challenge, as the Act has always been focussed on conventional vehicles. The most significant incompatibility between the RTA 1988 and autonomous vehicles was 3 the requirement for third-party insurance in relation to the vehicle user and not the vehicle. 4 Consequently, there was no compulsory requirement under the RTA 1988 for the vehicle manufacturer to have insurance, necessary to ensure compensation when the vehicle is at fault. Moreover, the users of at-fault vehicles were not protected. 5
