New research from Griffith University suggests that current fault-based liability processes fail to accommodate autonomous vehicles.
The research paper argues the legal definitions for ‘accident’ and ‘personal injury’ will require major reform to account for the inability to establish fault where a vehicle is highly automated.
Griffith PhD Law candidate Mark Brady said the question of whether a driver is at fault in the event that an autonomous vehicle harms another person or causes damage is important.
“With a fault-based system, most require a person in control of the vehicle or a driver,” Mr Brady said.
“An autonomous vehicle doesn’t fit the current legislative definition. So, in order to establish who is in control, they need to create a legal fiction and displace that blame to somebody else – whether that be the manufacturer, the software provider, or some other fault.”
He also said that existing compensation and insurance schemes, such as the compulsory third
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