Driverless taxis in London: who pays if you are injured?
London is trialling driverless taxi technology with passengers now able to travel in the autonomous vehicles. But this raises an important question – who is responsible and liable if you’re injured in a collision involving a self-driving taxi?
For anyone injured in such an incident, understanding the distinction between the current supervised trials and the UK’s emerging legal framework for fully authorised self-driving vehicles will be important.
Driverless taxis in London by Wayve and Uber
In September 2026, Uber and Wayve began offering supervised autonomous rides in London under the Government’s Automated Vehicle Trialling Code of Practice.
The vehicles have an automated driving system, but during the trial a trained, TfL-licensed private-hire vehicle (PHV) driver remains in the vehicle ready to take control if necessary.
In their current use, these vehicles cannot be described as completely driverless, because there is still a human driver responsible for supervising its operation, ready to intervene.
Who pays if there is a crash during the current London trial?
Transport for London says the cars are licensed as private hire vehicles the journeys are being conducted under the Government’s separate Automated Vehicle Trialling Code of Practice. This means the current service is legally very different from the fully authorised self-driving vehicles expected to operate under the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 in future.
For now, in accordance with the Code of Practice, the vehicles must have the appropriate motor insurance. Therefore, if someone is injured in a collision caused by one of these vehicles, a claim would ordinarily be made through the vehicle’s motor insurance, just as it would following a collision involving another private hire vehicle.
Insurance claims for driverless taxi accidents in future – who pays?
The position will change as genuinely driverless vehicles begin operating under the UK’s new automated vehicle laws.
The Automated Vehicles Act 2024 creates a legal framework for self-driving vehicles in Great Britain. It introduces new rules around who is responsible for the vehicle when the automated driving system is in control, including vehicles that may operate without a human driver onboard.
The Government is currently developing that framework and full implementation is expected in the second half of 2027.
Until the new framework is fully implemented, the Automated and Electric Vehicles Act 2018 provides the existing legal route for vehicles that are formally recognised as self-driving. Where a listed vehicle causes an accident while driving itself, special insurance rules can make the vehicle’s insurer directly liable. However, the Act does not provide the wider safety and regulatory framework needed for fully driverless vehicles, which is why the Automated Vehicles Act 2024 was introduced to create a more comprehensive system for their use.
Bolt Burdon Kemp is a long-standing campaigner when it comes to road traffic accidents, with our yearly Manifesto for Injured People continually making the case for tighter legislation around speed limits and e-scooters.
We will continue to work closely with the Parliamentary Advisory Council for Transport Safety to engage in government consultations to ensure the public is adequately protected as the legal framework is developed.
