New technology increasingly allows the transfer of conventional driving tasks to automated driving systems. But what about the legal framework for automated driving? Here is an overview.
Vehicles with driving assistants are capable of parking themselves or ensuring that the vehicle drives at a constant speed on the motorway. Automation relieves the driver and is intended to reduce the frequency of accidents. By reducing the number of vehicles, traffic becomes more fluid and the environment is protected. It is expected that fully autonomous vehicles will be ready for serial production within a few years. But who is liable if something happens? And why are there still some legal challenges here?
In Tyrol, a vehicle on the motorway suddenly initiated an emergency braking manoeuvre. Two following vehicles crashed. But it wasn’t the driver of the first vehicle who braked for no reason, it was the electronic driving assistant.
In Arizona an autonomous vehicle drove into a pedestrian without braking. The driving system had registered that the person was there, but it was only shortly before the collision that it realized it had to brake. The installed emergency braking system had been deactivated. The control driver did not intervene because she didnt see what was happening until it was too late. The pedestrian died.
Who is responsible for such accidents? Has technology failed? Should the drivers have been more careful?
An article by lawyer Melanie Gassler-Tischlinger deals with these questions in an issue of the magazine DHK Aspekte.
Link to article: Service _ Messen – Autonomes Fahren
