{"id":3708,"date":"2021-03-16T14:11:51","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T14:11:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/?p=3708"},"modified":"2025-02-26T17:31:48","modified_gmt":"2025-02-26T17:31:48","slug":"does-the-dawn-of-self-driving-cars-mean-no-more-speeding-tickets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.scrapcarnetwork.org\/news\/does-the-dawn-of-self-driving-cars-mean-no-more-speeding-tickets\/","title":{"rendered":"Does the dawn of self driving cars mean no more speeding tickets?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s be honest, most drivers view speed limits as a necessary evil. And there are those of us who aren\u2019t always that great at sticking to them all the time, especially when out on motorways. It\u2019s not just one of the most commonly broken driving laws, but in fact may well be one of the most common everyday crimes committed in the UK, period, and it\u2019s a major factor in countless people deciding – I need to scrap my car<\/a>. New technology and new laws are already evolving to try and curb the habit, such as with the introduction of in-built speed limiters.<\/a><\/p>\n

Right now, the vast majority of speeding instances are the results of conscious decisions by human drivers, who remain legally culpable for the consequences. But what happens when the human occupant of the vehicle isn\u2019t actually the one controlling it? In other words, if a self-driving car is setting its own speed – legal or not – does that mean the end for speeding tickets?<\/p>\n

Changing from drivers to users-in-charge<\/h2>\n

Now if you\u2019ve got a self-driving car (sometimes known as an automatic vehicle, or AV) then the word \u2018driver\u2019 becomes a bit of a misnomer when applied to the human occupant. That\u2019s part of why the Law Commission is proposing renaming \u2018drivers\u2019 of self-driving cars to users-in-charge within the next two years.<\/p>\n

It might seem like a pretty small change on the surface, but it carries huge legal ramifications. The name change marks a shift in legal responsibilities, which means they could transform as many as 4.5 million motoring offences each year into pure regulatory matters.<\/p>\n

To directly quote the Law Commission\u2019s report, it suggests that as soon as a car is classified as an Automatic Vehicle, drivers \u201cwould not be liable for any criminal offence or civil penalty which arises out of dynamic driving.\u201d<\/p>\n

It goes on to say: \u201cIf there is a collision caused by a vehicle driving itself\u2026 the user-in-charge could not be prosecuted for offences such as careless or dangerous driving. The user-in-charge could not be prosecuted for a wide range of other offences, such as exceeding the speed limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As you can see, that\u2019s a pretty huge change, and it\u2019s already ruffled plenty of feathers.<\/p>\n

So how do human responsibilities change in self-driving cars?<\/h2>\n

Now, even if your car happens to be self driving, that doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re free from all responsibility. You\u2019ve still got your fair share of obligations, so don\u2019t start organising a party behind the wheel just yet.<\/p>\n

Users-in-charge will still be responsible for other things, like carrying insurance and taking care to report accidents on the road. Most importantly though, you\u2019d still need to be capable and aware enough to take over control of the vehicle should it prompt you to. If an AV detects a tricky situation it\u2019s struggling to calculate its way out of, it will use a combination of dashboard warning lights and audible alarms. These are officially referred to as multi-sensory alerts, to make it really clear when human occupants need to take control.<\/p>\n

However, if the user-in-charge doesn\u2019t take action within 10 seconds of what the RAC calls \u2018escalating transition demand\u2019 – a polite technical way of referring to the car yelling at you to take control – then the AV will perform a minimum risk manoeuvre. Often, this will involve coming to a slow stop in a lane with its hazard warning lights on.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ll note that this is far from an ideal solution to most developing hazards, and in many cases may not even guarantee safety. That means in practice, while users-in-charge might be technically exempt from prosecution for things like dangerous driving, they\u2019ll still be ultimately responsible for ensuring their own safety and that of everyone else in the car. So, maybe don\u2019t tempt fate too much by taking the opportunity for forty winks at the wheel.<\/p>\n

Will self-driving cars stick to speed limits?<\/h2>\n

Well, that\u2019s really the million dollar question, isn\u2019t it. At the moment, the answer still seems to be a little fuzzy. There\u2019s certainly a lot of thinking going into a closely-related conundrum – namely working out when and how autonomous cars might be able to technically break laws, if it ultimately means protecting human health and safety. (For example, by briefly accelerating beyond the speed limit in order to escape what might have otherwise been a dangerous collision.)<\/p>\n

The Law Commission has already carried out several full consultations<\/a> on this. Amongst its findings were that RAC members and other motorists generally supporting exceeding the speed limit but only within very small amounts, and in rare circumstances. Most safety organisations said no, it\u2019s never acceptable<\/a> for self-driving cars to break the speed limit.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a shame then, that some real-world events are already contradicting this consensus. There was a bit of controversy a few years ago when Tesla initially limited the speed of its AVs to stay within speed limits at all times – before reversing that change again on the 17th of January, allowing Tesla owners to return to breaking speed limits at will. On non-divided roads like residential streets and A-roads, the car is capped to just five miles an hour faster than the limit. On highways however, that limit is set much higher, so that Tesla owners can freely set their cars to go as fast as 90mph if they so choose.<\/p>\n

Now, you could make the argument that motorway speed limits have been set with human limitations in mind, and are designed to account for human reaction times. And since the sensors of a self-driving car are so much more sophisticated than human senses, with a more finely tuned awareness of its own weight and velocity, then why shouldn\u2019t they be able to break established speed limits, as long as they\u2019re still driving safely, and have sufficient room to do so?<\/p>\n

But equally, if you\u2019re going to set speed limits and then allow autonomous cars to break then with no legal consequences for the users-in-charge, then what is the point of having those speed limits in the first place? Don\u2019t they then simply become a rule for only one segment of the driving population, one that certain drivers can buy their way out of – as long as they can afford the \u2018right kind\u2019 of car?<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know the answers to any of these questions here at Scrap Car Network – we\u2019ll leave it to people far more qualified than us to ultimately have the final say! We\u2019ll tell you what we are great at though, and that\u2019s getting you the very best price when you scrap your car with us. Here at Scrap Car Network, you can count on us to help you get the very best price for your scrap car. We make it fast and easy to\u00a0scrap your car\u00a0for cash \u2013 just enter your car reg and postcode into our website for an instant, no obligation valuation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s be honest, most drivers view speed limits as a necessary evil. And there are those of us who aren\u2019t always that great at sticking to them all the time, especially when out on motorways. It\u2019s not just one of the most commonly broken driving laws, but in fact may well be one of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":113,"featured_media":3715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n