First case in which the owner of an autonomous vehicle assumes responsibility for an accident

With the entry of autonomous vehicles in our lives, the need arises to update the traffic codes and their legality to know who is responsible when an autonomous or self-driving vehicle registers an accident with other vehicles. Some companies avoid this debate by putting pressure on other human drivers because of their capacity for human error, or Teslas who, in the event of an accident, deactivate their automatic driving so that the human must avoid the accident and avoid legal problems.

But last Sunday there was a case in which an autonomous vehicle company bears the costs of an accident in which it has been involved. China's online service app Meituan took full responsibility for a collision between its driverless delivery vehicle and a private car. It would be the first case in the autonomous driving industry in which the operator takes full responsibility.

Responsibility for an autonomous vehicle accident is assumed by the manufacturer

According to a Weibo user who posted the incident Sunday night, his car collided with a Meituan driverless delivery vehicle while driving normally. The traffic police ruled that the minivan was fully responsible.

The accident occurred at a T-intersection in Beijing, and according to local media, the unmanned vehicle was traveling on the side road when it collided with the white vehicle trying to turn right. According to a traffic police sanctions statement posted by the Weibo user, the unmanned vehicle was found totally responsible because it was traveling in a lane that was not a highway. But the unmanned vehicle does not appear to have been considered a motor vehicle in actual operations, so it did not display license plates or have the same insurance coverage as a motor vehicle.

This lack of insurance could be the start of regulations requiring autonomous vehicles to have their own accident insurance to operate. For now, this is just an isolated case in China. But with the appeal of autonomous driving, which would allow millions of people worldwide to access a car without taking a driving test, it could escalate to more countries requiring mandatory insurance in case of accidents. Insurance for new types of vehicles is still a work in progress, but there are signs of advancement, such as the expectation that insurance for electric scooters will soon be available in Spain.

Source: CNEVPost