What does the law say?

Responsibility when fully automated vehicles crash is largely venturing into unchartered territory as the technology is still being developed and the law is trying to keep pace with it.

In fact, the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act, 2018, has been put on the statute book but hasn't been brought into force as fully autonomous cars are not available yet. Lawyer Alex Glassbrook says previous cases involving artificial intelligence (AI) have found the programmers at fault. He said: "It is a situation that the law hasn't come across before, we don't have yet the AI that is sophisticated enough to make complex decisions for us.

"The closest it has come so far is legal cases about algorithms used to trade currency… in the end the judge dealt with it as though the human had been responsible, as though the programmer had been responsible. The judge admitted that is a formative answer and the law will very likely have to change as these algorithms become more sophisticated."

What has happened in previous self-driving car accident cases?

There are clear risks involved with self-diving cars even with human back-ups inside the vehicle and a woman was tragically killed in the United States after being hit in 2018. Elaine Herzberg, 49, was struck in Tempe, Arizona, which was the first death involving a self-driving car but there have also been multiple accidents. Uber suspended self-driving car testing in the U.S. after that accident but is now pushing ahead again with trials.

The U.S.' National Transportation Safety Board's investigation into Uber's fatal crash in Arizona concluded last November that there was a "lack of federal safety standards" for automated driving systems. The NTSB said Uber should have been aware that its system was unable "to correctly classify and predict the path of the pedestrian crossing the road midblock".

Since then Uber have overhauled training for backup drivers and in new testing they will have a backup driver behind the wheel with a second safety employee sitting beside them.

How far are we off fully Automated Vehicles (AVs)?

Not long ago the thought of AVs sounded more like science fiction but rapid advancements mean that they now exist on a basic level. There is still some way to go before cars are fully "aware" and can be a safe alternative.

In a universal ranking system, Level 5 where we are in a world of complete vehicular automation doesn't exit and we are only just at Level 4 where cars have driverless capabilities. It means that autonomous cars now still include a human back-up drivers.

Could driverless cars make the roads safer?

With technology still being developed there have been plenty of bumps along the way but looking to the long term, they could make roads a safer place.

Mr Glassbrook says that automation could help reduce some crashes caused by a lack of concentration and human error. He said: "Whether we ever get to full automation of vehicles everywhere or whether we just get to full automation of vehicles somewhere, or partial automation of vehicles everywhere the features on these vehicles are mainly intended for safety."

He continued: "We need to make sure people are compensated and we need to make sure the testing standards are sufficiently high that people are not intentionally injured by these vehicles. By and large they seem to be a really positive step towards less speed on our roads, more distance and fewer accidents."