Autonomous Vehicles and Civil Liability in a Global Perspective. Liability Law study across the world in relation to SAE J3016 Standard for Driving Automation

Digitalisation, connectivity and automation are increasing in the automotive sector at rapid speed. In tomorrow’s vehicles, the human being will be confined to the role of a mere passenger. This raises a whole new range of complex legal issues in case of accidents involving self-driving vehicles. This volume for the very first time offers a comprehensive global overview of the civil liability regimes for the different levels of vehicle automation in many of those jurisdictions that form the most important markets of the automotive industry. After a technical introduction to the functioning of self-driving cars, the individual chapters analyse the liability at each of SAE J3016 levels 0-5 of Driving Automation from a country-specific perspective. All chapters were prepared by experts in the field and follow the same legal structure for reasons of better comparison. Finally, this book offers a wide-ranging comparative analysis of the legal similarities and differences in the examined jurisdictions and on this basis also provides suggestions for future legislative changes at national and international level. The book is not only relevant for legal scholars and practitioners but also is of particular interest to anyone involved in the design, manufacture, distribution and operation of (semi)autonomous vehicles.