Research On Tort Liability Of Autonomous Vehicle Traffic Accidents

Autonomous vehicles is a new type of motor vehicle based on artificial intelligence technology,which has the functions of self-judgment,self-learning,self-decision and can drive autonomously.According to the different intelligent level,it can be divided into six levels,such as fully automatic driving,highly automatic driving and partially automatic driving.As a product of artificial intelligence,autonomous vehicles have attracted worldwide attention because of their advantages in reducing traffic accident rate,liberating human drivers and relieving urban traffic congestion.However,as a new technology,it is not regulated by law.Nevertheless,in recent years,traffic accidents of autonomous vehicles have occurred frequently,and how to bear the responsibility after the accidents has become an urgent problem to be solved.As the development prospect of autonomous vehicles is still unclear,this paper attempts to seek solutions within the framework of the original tort liability system.At present,there are three viewpoints on the legal status of autonomous vehicles,namely,affirmation,negation and compromise.Only when the self-driving car is regarded as an object,can it be more in line with the division of subject and object in civil law rules and the definition of object in civil law,and can solve its infringement problem under the current legal framework.As self-driving car is a new type of car,traffic accident liability can be considered.However,there are some difficulties in the application process,such as the judgment of fault and the subject of responsibility.At the same time,self-driving cars have product attributes,because the accidents caused by product defects can be applied to product liability.There are also some difficulties when applying product liability,and it is difficult to judge causality and product defects.This paper proposes to adopt "motor vehicle traffic accident liability+product liability" to solve the infringement problem of autonomous vehicles more systematically.The six grades of autonomous vehicles are divided into three parts:manual driving,system driving and takeover-transition.Among them,the manual driving stage without automation,auxiliary driving level,partial automatic driving level and conditional automatic driving level is the manual driving stage,which is no different from the traditional motor vehicle,and can be directly applied to motor vehicle traffic accident liability.System driving,highly automatic driving level and fully automatic driving level of conditional automatic driving are the system driving parts.At this time,if the end user intentionally interferes with the system during starting,stopping or riding,fails to upgrade and maintain the system in time,and the previous illegal driving behavior misleads the automatic driving system and thus causes accidents,the producer shall bear the product responsibility.Conditional automatic driving warning-take-over stage belongs to take-over-transition part.In case of emergency,the automatic driving system should issue warning but not issue it,or although the warning is issued,the end user also takes over the car,but the accident still occurs due to physiological restriction,which is a product defect,and the producer shall bear the product responsibility.In case of emergency,the automatic driving system gives a warning,but the driver is lazy to take over,resulting in the accident,and the end user shall bear the traffic accident responsibility.In order to reduce the cost of finding out the facts and save resources;To improve the efficiency of accident identification and make victims get timely relief,"black box" technology should be introduced.At the same time,the establishment of dual-track insurance for autonomous vehicles can better spread risks,encourage innovation and promote the sound development of the autonomous vehicle industry.