The Association of British Insurers (ABI) wants an international-standard data set to help insurers establish liability in accidents involving highly automated vehicles.

It says this will stop human drivers being incorrectly blamed for accidents involving faulty technology. If technology is at fault, insurers should recover costs from the manufacturer.

The ABI wants insurers to gain access to specific data from 30 seconds before a crash until 15 seconds after, comprising a GPS record of time and location, whether the vehicle was in autonomous or manual mode, and whether the vehicle was driving or parking.

It says insurers also want to know when a vehicle entered autonomous mode, when the driver last interacted with the system, if the driver braked or steered, whether the driver seat was occupied and whether the seatbelt was fastened.

This data would establish liability, inform emergency services investigations and help vehicle manufacturers improve products.

Information measuring driver performance would not be gathered, the ABI says.

The UN body responsible for vehicle regulation is preparing to impose data requirements on car makers from 2019, which UK insurers hope to influence.

ABI Director-General Huw Evans says the data will ensure customers are cared for.

“This would offer public reassurance by protecting motorists from being incorrectly blamed if something fails with their car, helping police investigations and supporting prompt insurance payouts,” he said.

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