Legal Subject And Distribution Of Tort Liability In Autonomous Vehicles Traffic Accidents

The fourth major change in the automotive industry is being caused by self-driving cars,which has become the focus of a new round of global competition.According to the international standard of autopilot technology,autopilot can be divided into several stages.Only at the highest stage of technology can self-driving be completely realized,excluding human factors,while in the lower stage,there are still drivers.Therefore,according to the general view of artificial intelligence experts,self-driving is considered as weak artificial intelligence.The influence of different levels of autopilot technology on the current tort liability system should be distinguished,and the difficulties or unreasonable results of adapting to the current legal system need to be further studied.From the current point of view,self-driving vehicles are facing greater legal challenges in terms of traffic tort liability and insurance liability.Generally speaking,there are many people involved in self-driving car manufacturing,and self-driving car manufacturing is a highly complex systematic project,which involves not only the manufacture of automobile body,but also the manufacture of self-driving system and the cooperation of automobile.Therefore,after the self-driving car has a traffic accident,it is extremely difficult to identify the subject of tort liability and the subsequent distribution of responsibility.The current subject of legal liability for traffic accidents is generally recognized as a natural person,that is,a car driver."artificial intelligence" does not qualify as a civil subject,so it is not within the scope of the current subject of tort liability and cannot bear legal liability.However,because the traffic legislation is originally based on the driver's fault or driver's qualification,it is not consistent with the situation that the self-driving vehicle can drive independently of the driver.Therefore,the current legal system can not well solve the problem of determining the liability of self-driving vehicles after traffic accidents,and directly apply the current tort liability system to regulate the risks in the field of self-driving vehicles.Therefore,the author thinks that the electronic legal subject qualification similar to the company legal person should be established for the self-driving car.Legal person qualification is a successful legal concept in function,which has the binding of ability,material and property liability.Moreover,in many aspects,especially in civil law,legalpersons are treated the same as natural persons provided by law,but do not get the same legal status in other aspects.In addition,the law may determine the type of legal person to be proposed.Driverless cars can have the ability of consciousness and responsibility,and have the feasibility of becoming a "special legal person".Moreover,it is necessary to give the legal subject qualification of electronic legal person to driverless car in order to adjust the existing tort liability system of traffic accidents.to solve the problem of tort liability that can not be borne by human beings or the distribution of legal liability between driverless vehicles and drivers.Whether to undertake the duty of care of driving and the possession of dominant control of the car are regarded as the criteria for the distribution of traffic tort liability of self-driving vehicles.Therefore,in general,when the traffic accident tort is related to L1-L3 self-driving behavior,the car producer also needs to bear the responsibility;in the L4-L5 driverless vehicle traffic accident,the human "driver" no longer becomes the subject of responsibility,but by the car producer(including producers and sellers and other parties,whose external responsibility sharing is not discussed here).Moreover,in the case that the defect of the self-driving car is not attributed to the automobile producer,the self-driving vehicle should be held responsible as the civil subject of the electronic legal person,and the self-driving vehicle insurance and fund mechanism should be established.in order to achieve a balance in the protection of the rights and interests of victims,drivers and car producers.