Would YOU trust a self-driving bus?

It is now an undeniable fact that self-driving buses are no longer just an idea or concept – they are here.

The ground-breaking trial project between Fife and Edinburgh in May 2023 was watched with anticipation to see how the autonomous vehicle would get on as it crossed the Forth Road Bridge.

Spoiler alert – it (appears) to manage the journey without issue, as on-board journalists confirmed in post-launch articles.

But even if the new technology works – are people ready for it? Do they trust it?

What are self-driving buses?

As you’d expect these buses are vehicles capable of travelling without the need of a human driver.

Reaching speeds of up to 50mph, the buses travel on pre-selected roads and are guided by a complex network of cameras, sensors, sat navs and sophisticated computer programming.

Despite being ‘driverless’ the Stagecoach AB1 bus used in the new pilot actually has two human staff members on board.

One takes the position of ‘safety driver’ – sitting behind the wheel to monitor what is going on. They keep an eye on the system to make sure it is operating as it should, while also watching the road ahead so they can intervene and take over manual controls should something arise.

The second person is a ‘captain’ who is there to help people board and buy tickets.

The trial scheme – which is done as a collaborative effort between Stagecoach, Fusion, Alexander Dennis Ltd and Transport Scotland – will run until 2025 to let developers gather data.

Do people trust self-driving buses?

After the trial launch regional media outlet The Courier carried out a poll of around 1,000 people – and found nearly 68% of people would not get on an automatic bus.

Stagecoach was made aware of the figure but called for people to “Give it a try” and tried to reassure the public that the technology will be safe and reliable (reminding Scots of the staff members on board to further cement safety).

So why don’t people like automatic buses?

Views on this can be found all over the internet, social media and industry sectors with similar themes and doubts frequently popping up:

• If it’s so safe why are there two staff members while a normal bus has one?
• How can being more reliant on technology help us?
• It’s just another thing that will put people (drivers) out of work.
• What happens if something goes wrong?

What happens if a driverless bus crashes?

As a dedicated personal injury firm the last theme mentioned above is something we are also concerned about.

There is much still to learn about driverless buses because the technology isn’t the only thing that needs developed – the laws do as well. Because in the event something bad happens, what are victims and families meant to do to secure justice?

After an accident, who would be to blame:

• The bus company?
• The bus manufacturer?
• The AI software developer?
• The human driver?

Is the civil law and insurance sector even ready for automatic buses by addressing issues around liability? Would an A.I. bus crash be treated as a road traffic accident claim or would it be treated as a type of product liability claim?

In the past (for more serious accidents) we have seen human drivers face scrutiny, even on a criminal level – but how do you prosecute technology?

The UK has very good and well understood layers of protections for people injured in road traffic accidents as a result of compulsory insurance laws and provisions for uninsured or untraced drivers. Will this system be complicated by the inclusion of driverless cars? What will happen if there is a dispute about whether the accident is the fault of the vehicle or the driver? Or both?

Plans are underway to address such issues. One such proposal is to make it clear that in the event of a crash then the vehicle insurer is held responsible.

Whatever changes are made to the existing framework of protections, lawmakers will need to ensure that blameless victims do not fall through any gaps.

The UK Government has made clear that it welcomes the opportunity to develop this area with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps saying: “The benefits of self-driving vehicles have the potential to be huge.

“They’re expected to make our roads safer by reducing the dangers of driver error in road collisions.

“We want the UK to be at the forefront of developing and using this fantastic technology, and that is why we are investing millions in vital research into safety and setting the legislation to ensure we gain the full benefits that this technology promises.”

It therefore remains to be seen how successful and prominent self-driving buses will be but even if the technology is ready… there is still work to be done to ensure that blameless victims can have confidence in the legal protections relating to driverless vehicles.

Image

Simon Hammond, Partner

Edinburgh Office