Liability and legislative regulation of autonomous vehicle technologies: A comparative study

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) are increasingly regarded as a transformative innovation in transportation, yet the delegation of driving functions to automated systems raises unresolved questions of civil liability when accidents occur. This study addresses the legal uncertainty surrounding the attribution of responsibility among operators, manufacturers, and other stakeholders in jurisdictions that have not enacted dedicated AV legislation. The paper uses a doctrinal and comparative legal method, reading Bahrain’s Traffic Law No. 23 of 2014 and Civil Code promulgated by Legislative Decree No. 19 of 2001 against Dubai Law No. 9 of 2023. In Bahrain, AVs can be brought within the law only by treating them as an ‘object requiring special care’ under Article 175, and even then, the law does not specify who is liable. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) takes the opposite path, placing strict liability directly on a licensed operator (Kubica, 2022; Law No. 9 of 2023 Regulating the Operation of Autonomous Vehicles in the Emirate of Dubai). The study concludes that Bahrain should enact dedicated legislation defining the ‘operator’ and allocating liability, while interim reliance on general civil-law principles offers only a provisional solution.