자율주행자동차의 운행과 보험제도

Abstract

According to a WHO report on worldwide road traffic accident in 2015, the ninthrank of the cause of death is a vehicle accident. Through efforts such ascommercialization of the autonomous vehicle, reduction of vehicle accident to theseventh rank as the cause of death is expected in 2030. It is the hope of mankindthat while freely operating the vehicle as a mode of transportation, no accidentsoccur at all. For the realization of this goal, the advancing progress of autonomousvehicle has appeared. Although human effort in realizing a complete autonomousvehicle era is quite desperate, in March and May 2018, fatal accidents were stillcaused by the up-to-date autonomous driving assistance system installed vehicle withAutopilot function. Currently, it is considered that autonomous vehicles unoperated byhumans may reduce 90% of the accidents caused by drivers. In case of an accident,it becomes the liability of the machine itself, that is of the autonomous vehicle,instead of the driver’s or the operator’s. In addition, it will become themanufacturer’s liability. What primarily counts is the protection of the victims of thevehicle accident. When the era of autonomous level 4 (High Automation) in which vehicles asmodern convenience will no longer be considered a medium of human accident butinstead a fantastic mode of transportation, zero occurrence of vehicle accident may beexpected. Still in case of an accident, it is to be considered as a system defect ofthe autonomous vehicle, and indemnification should be made in accordance with theProduct Liability Law. However, the problem is autonomous driving Level 3 (Conditional Automation), that is, legal system and the plan for charging liability inthe limited automation stage. It seems to be reasonable as a plan for chargingliability by maintaining current legal system with the appointment of the driver whois the subject of the liability according to the Guarantee of Automobile AccidentCompensation Act as the primary person under liability of compensation forprotection of victim through vehicle insurance, and establishing the Product LiabilityLaw that incorporates manufacturing defect of autonomous vehicle in accordance withthe commercialization of autonomous vehicle, and solving this problem throughindemnity relationship of the Product Liability Insurance to which the manufacturer ofthe autonomous vehicle has insured.