Self-driving car needs new legal measures

TOKYO — The Japanese government aims to put unmanned self-driving vehicles into practical use under limited conditions by 2020. However, it has been pointed out that current laws are not equipped to deal with liability in accidents involving selfdriving cars.

“Fully self-driving cars would reduce traffic jams and accidents, and could provide elderly people in depopulated areas with a means of transportation,” the president of a Tokyo-based robotics company said enthusiastically on Dec 14, when a demonstration experiment involving an unmanned self-driving vehicle on public roads in Koto Ward was conducted.

Since October, the Japanese government has carried out tests on highways and other places in cooperation with 21 entities including automakers and universities.

At the Tokyo Motor Show in late October, crowds gathered to see a display of “vehicles of the future”, which included new technologies like an artificial intelligence system that warns drivers who appear to be falling asleep and a concept car that had no steering wheel, gas pedal or brake pedal.

If a fully self-driving vehicle being operated by an AI system was involved in an accident, who would be liable?

Mock trial

Commissioned by the government to explore this question, Meiji University Graduate School of Law Professor Koji Nakayama, an expert on the Civil Procedure Code, organized a mock trial for an accident involving a self-driving car in January last year.

The Road Traffic Law states that a driver must reliably operate the steering wheel, brakes and other equipment to drive at a speed and in a manner that does not put other people in danger.

However, the law was not designed to apply to AI systems.

In the mock trial, the hypothetical accident occurred when a bicycle suddenly pulled out in front of a selfdriving car, which led the car to quickly change lanes.

To avoid a collision with the car, a vehicle behind it swerved to the left and hit a utility pole, killing the driver.

The insurance company sued the automaker, demanding part of the compensation for the driver’s family. It insisted that the system was defective, saying it was not as safe as it should have been.

The automaker disputed this claim, arguing that changing lanes was the only option for preventing a collision with the other vehicle.

A discussion among three persons who played the role of judges, including an academic, could not conclude that the self-driving car was free from fault under the current rules and level of technology. They advised both sides to compromise rather than handing down a ruling.

“The purpose of the mock trial was to clarify the specific issues involved,” Nakayama said.

Takeyoshi Imai, a professor of Penal Code at the Hosei University Graduate School of Law, said: “Regarding the issue of liability involving fully self-driving cars, there are some cases that would be difficult to address under the current laws. New legal measures are needed that clarify liability for AI.”

The government aims to lay out as a general principle this fiscal year on such issues as safety criteria, traffic rules and liability, based on discussions among its ministries and agencies, and on trends in the relevant industries.