Aspects Relating to Autonomous and Connected Vehicles

This chapter begins with a recap of the terminology commonly used in the area of autonomous and connected vehicles, which can often lead to confusion: standard, consortium, norm, law, rules, code, regulation, recommendation, ethics, morals, and legal. It details the regulatory aspects, and recommendations in relation to autonomous vehicles at national, European and world levels. For a representative example of the regulatory side of things, the chapter looks at France, at the “Code de la route” (Highway Code), whose content is very closely linked to the text of the Vienna Convention. It introduces the main standardization bodies that deal with autonomous and connected vehicles. The chapter sets out the multi‐layered legal aspects surrounding autonomous vehicles and the technical consequences of these legal considerations when designing a vehicle. It examines the role of insurance and insurers, and the questions of liability in the rollout of autonomous vehicles.