Research On The Tort Liability Of Driverless Vehicles In Traffic Accidents

Unmanned driving technology enables us to realize the convenience brought by science and technology.On the one hand,the development of unmanned driving technology has changed our way of transport.It no longer requires excessive duty of care.On the other hand,driverless cars are not absolutely safe,which has caused the difficult problem of traffic accident liability identification and assumption.Driverless technology has changed the operating principle of traditional cars and shown some disadvantages when applying traditional tort liability rules.Therefore,it is necessary to discuss relevant tort rules.The discussion on the infringement rules of driverless cars can not only make up for the lag of laws and technologies,meet the potential risks of new technologies,but also lay a good development environment for the marketization of driverless cars.How do we determine the tort liability of driverless cars in traffic accidents? Whether it can be solved through existing laws,what aspects should be paid attention to if any,and how to regulate if not,as well as the liability for personal or property damage and relief,are all major problems faced by the development of unmanned driving technology.Therefore,while studying driverless cars,relevant departments should prepare for the impact of technology expansion as soon as possible to minimize its negative impact.Through the analysis of these problems and combining the domestic and foreign legislation practice and theory study,in the light of the characteristics of self-driving technology and development trend of seeking the corresponding solution,strengthen the legal regulation,on the one hand to do on the development of artificial intelligence industry norms,on the other hand,in a more operational way of finding the way to solve the problem.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this paper is mainly divided into the following four parts.The first part,mainly elaborated the unmanned technology challenge to the current tort law system,mainly including driverless cars in infringement rule applies traditional cars,driver by people into system,on the premise of fault liability,duty of care in that difficult fault,the responsibility is difficult to determine;When applying the principle of no-fault attribution to product liability,it is difficult to prove product defects due to the lack of mandatory and standardized relevant provisions.Due to the characteristics of driverless cars,it is difficult to prove the defects and defects of common products.In practice,it is also very difficult to determine the source of infringement.Driverless cars involve the participation of multiple subjects,so the scope of the responsibility subject and the responsibility bearing subject in the occurrence of traffic accidents also need to be clarified.At the same time,it also briefly analyzes the concept,characteristics,development status and prospect of driverless cars.In the second part,this part mainly describes the legislative status of driverless cars in some countries outside the region.It involves the development direction of driverless cars,test standards,the definition of accident identification responsibility in the process of autonomous driving and some institutional arrangements for the field of driverless cars.In terms of legislation,all countries allow the testing of driverless cars to some extent and try to modify their road traffic laws to meet the development of driverless cars.In terms of technology,some countries require the installation of "black box" inside the vehicle to record the running process of the vehicle so as to facilitate the identification of accidents.In terms of liability bearing,the author puts forward the subject of liability bearing within the existing legal system and guides the applicable insurance system to regulate it.Through the analysis of domestic policies and national legislation trends of each country,this paper summarizes the regulations of each country on the legal level of driverless cars so as to provide reference for the study of traffic accident liability of driverless cars in China.The third part,this part focuses on the driverless car traffic accident liability identification.First of all,the principle of fault liability applies to driverless cars when applying motor vehicle traffic accident liability to similar cars and traditional motor vehicles,and the principle of presumption of fault liability applies to non-motor vehicle drivers and pedestrians,and the principle of no-fault liability should continue to be used.Secondly,the constitutive elements of the liability for driverless car traffic accidents include tort,damage result and causal relationship.Here,a broad understanding of tort should be made to apply driverless car traffic accidents.Then,when applying traffic accident liability,it should be noted that the corresponding defense excuse includes fault of infrastructure maintainer,victim's intention,external infringer and accident.Finally,when applying product liability,the liability constitutive elements of the material attributes of driverless cars include product defects,the fact of damage and causal relationship.When undertaking liability,it is not necessary to separate the traffic accident liability from the product liability,and it can be considered to require the driverless cars to assume corresponding liability in the lawsuit.In the fourth part,this part mainly analyzes the ownership and assumption of the liability for traffic accidents of driverless cars.One is the appropriateness of the subject of tort liability,and the other is the division and assumption of tort liability.About self-driving car accidents including the design of the product research and development,the main responsibility of the producers,sellers and users,the main body to assume tort liability is the premise of the scope of their duties caused by fault in traffic accident appeared in the process of driving,so use it as a tort liability's subject is conform to the legal value judgment.On the other hand,the assumption of responsibility is mainly manifested in the discussion on the proportion of responsibility division and the perfection of relevant system to achieve the purpose of relief.Under the premise of encouraging technological innovation,we should attach importance to the relief of victims,clarify the dominant position of driverless cars on the road,formulate unified safety standards for driverless cars,and reconstruct the traffic accident liability insurance for driverless cars.Through the introduction of "black box" technology,it is convenient for the identification of liability for traffic accidents in driverless cars and reasonable allocation of liability for tort liability in traffic accidents in driverless cars,so as to maintain the balance of interests among consumers,manufacturers and victims.