자율주행자동차 사고의 제조물책임법 적용에 관한 연구 - 소프트웨어의 제조물성 근거규정 도입에 대하여 -

Abstract

The autonomous vehicle (AV) means a vehicle which runs autonomously to a destination using an automated driving system and software which controls the system. Autonomous vehicles currently being developed include an on-board automated driving system which functions as artificial intelligence and autonomous driving software which enables a vehicle to drive itself. The automated driving system is developing in the way of not only combining advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) but also figuring out driving environments based on interconnection by collecting information from other vehicles and providing such collected information to the automated driving system of another vehicle. With the latest technologies for automated vehicles evolving all over the world, it is expected that vehicles with Level 3 self-driving technology, conditional automation, where autonomous driving is practically possible with steering, acceleration and deceleration, braking, etc. conducted automatically, though drivers are required to intervene in unexpected situations, will be commercialized in Korea from July 2020. Since car accidents so far have been caused mainly by drivers’ negligence or defects in vehicles, the principles of liability for illegal act under the Civil Law or those of product liability have been applied to civil liability arising from the accidents. However, in the era of commercialization of autonomous vehicles, there is a high possibility that most of the accidents will be caused by factors outside of a driver such as a defect in autonomous driving software. Therefore, liability of manufacturers of software related to autonomous driving needs to be clarified for the purpose of protecting customers and providing remedy for victims. However, since the current Product Liability Law defines the product as ‘movables’, theories are divided into pros and cons as for the application of the principles of product liability to car accidents caused by defects in built-in autonomous driving software, and there is a certain limit in the actual application of those principles. Therefore, the term ‘product’ defined in the Product Liability Law should include software.