Insurers are pushing the Government to force driverless car makers to hand over data after vehicles are ­involved in accidents, in the face of ­objections from car makers such as Elon Musk’s electric specialist Tesla.

Car insurers face a complete overhaul of their businesses when cars ­begin to drive themselves, with liability for accidents potentially shifting from drivers to manufacturers.

Although driverless vehicles are not expected to hit the roads for several years, manufacturers have already signalled reluctance to share accident data due to security concerns, according to David Williams of Axa, who chairs the Association of British Insurers’ autonomous driving group. He said the industry was proposing changes to driverless car legislation currently going through the Commons, to require manufacturers to give up data immediately after a collision.

“These cars are going to be like computers on wheels,” he said. “We want to make it mandatory that certain elements of data are available instantly.”