A Study On Tort Liability Of Autonomous Vehicles Traffic Accident

Because of its safety and convenience,automatic driving technology can effectively reduce the occurrence of traffic accidents and alleviate traffic congestion,and has became a new technology actively promoted by various countries.Autonomous vehicles will enter the civilian market soon,and the tort law arising must also be taken seriously.At present,China's legislation on autonomous vehicles only stays at the level of normative documents of ministries and local governments,and the protection is weak.With the continuous development and promotion of this technology,higher-level legislation is imperative.The United States started early in the legislation of autonomous vehicles.The federal government and most state governments have formed policies or bills,but most of their legislation is at the administrative level and pays attention to the protection of personal privacy,but there is not enough attention to the provisions of tort liability.In contrast,the Eighth Amendment to the German Road Traffic Law provides for more detailed provisions.German legislators believe that the existing liability system in Germany has a long history and can not be fundamentally changed because of the emergence of new technology of autonomous vehicles.Therefore,Germany has a more conservative attitude towards this issue.It considers the user of the automatic driving system to be the driver of the autopilot and asks the driver to assume the responsibility of the driver.It has not changed the structure of the liability for motor vehicle accidents in Germany,and pays more attention to the protection of the victims,and has increased the amount of compensation for such traffic accidents,and has introduced the "black box" system as evidence.The seminar held by the Ministry of land and transportation of Japan is of great significance to the subject of the responsibility of the autonomous vehicles.It considers the responsibility distribution between the suppliers,the insurers and the producers,and puts forward three practical and feasible allocation schemes.Even though autopilot technology is a new technology not mentioned by law inour country,it should not re-construct the current tort liability law system because of its freshness,but should first bring its related problems into our current tort law system to find a position.The three liability modes of motor vehicle accident liability,product liability and highly dangerous liability in tort law of our country can be applied to the problem of autonomous vehicles.Motor vehicle traffic accident is based on the principle of fault.All users have changed to the role of passengers in the process of autonomous vehicles.If no action is involved in the decision of driving the motor vehicle automatically,the owner or the user can not be regarded as the main body of responsibility if there is no driver identity,and it is difficult to prove that there is any fault in the traffic accident.When the product liability is applied,we can avoid the automatic driving system as an intangible intellectual product,whether it can be interpreted as a product,but directly identify its material carrier as a product.And if the cause of the accident is not due to improper user operation,it is a direct presumption that there are defects in the product of autopilot.For the exemption of product liability,the producer can not refuse to assume product liability in accordance with the "development risk defense".Autopilot is a kind of high-speed transport tool,and is in line with the theory of "special danger".It has a suitable space for high risk liability.However,the high-risk liability is relatively strict,the main body of responsibility is generally the operators of large enterprises,and individual users are afraid that it is difficult to bear.From the standpoint of value,the full relief for victims of automatic driving accidents should be the main starting point for the adjustment or innovation of the legal mechanism.In terms of system design and value consideration,the concept of "one side of motor vehicle" accident identification should be maintained,and the ways of victim's right relief should be broadened on the basis of keeping convenience and efficiency unchanged.In the aspect of the automatic driving vehicle and the third party liability,users should be required to be the driver's responsibility and bear untrue joint and several liability with the producers.If the cause of the accident is caused by the producer,the user has the right to recover from the producer.The infringement liability between the autonomous vehicles and the user is adjusted according to the product liability request,and the application of the defect identification and exemption clause is adjusted.The black box system isintroduced as evidence support.The application of autonomous vehicles in the shared economy mode is public,so users should not be required to bear driver's responsibility,but large enterprises should be required to bear highly risk responsibility as the main body of responsibility.The establishment of compulsory insurance is a necessary condition for autopilot to be put into market operation.