Motorists of the future should be insured for vehicle theft and damage resulting from cyber criminals hacking into driverless car control systems, according to three quarters of respondents to a survey.

Road safety organisation IAM RoadSmart’s director of policy and research Neil Greig said: “In our view it is logical that hacking electronic systems in autonomous vehicles is treated the same way as a traditionally stolen vehicle, with the insurer bearing the cost.

“This will be an important way of developing consumer confidence around one element of the plethora of questions driverless cars pose,” he added.

Responding to the finding, Association of British Insurers (ABI) spokesman Malcolm Tarling commented: “We are keen to support the introduction of autonomous vehicles which have the potential to make the roads a safer place.

“Insurers are currently looking at what cover this new technology might require and one of the key issues is likely to be security and the potential for vehicles to be hacked.”

In its response to a Government consultation on autonomous vehicles the ABI suggested last week that motorists should continue to buy a single insurance policy to cover both manual and automated driving following the deployment of driverless cars.

It added that insurers must be allowed to recoup costs from motor manufacturers, software companies or other parties in cases where the vehicle or technology was found to have been at fault.

The ABI also says drivers will need absolute certainty about when they can safely allow the car to drive autonomously and what they should and should not do behind the wheel.

Concern over insurance for driverless cars follows discussion earlier this year about who would be liable in the event of a collision involving an autonomous vehicle. Transport Minister Andrew Jones indicated in the spring that in such an event it would be the vehicle at fault instead of the human driver.

(Photo: Department for Transport)