Your or my fault?
Who is actually liable if you cause damage or injury to someone else in your self-driving car? That seems to be a matter of reading the fine print, but if it is up to the European Commission, things will soon become a lot clearer.
The European Commission wants to modernize liability rules in the European Union, including so that ‘smart’ products are covered in the event of a failed software update, for example. In addition, according to the European Commission, there must be unambiguous and clear rules about liability in the event of injury or damage caused by, for example, an autonomous car. How and what exactly will be recorded is not yet known.
“On the one hand, we must give room to the enormous potential of new technologies, but at the same time we must always ensure the safety of the user,” said European Commissioner Didier Reynders (Justice) according to ANP. “Using drones or delivery services using artificial intelligence only works if the consumer feels safe and protected, so we propose to adapt our legal framework for the digital transition.” It should also become possible to claim liability for, for example, loss of data and in the event of privacy violations. Not so strange, after all, a lot of data is being collected by more and more products, including cars. In addition, the EU administration wants to reverse the burden of proof. Companies must therefore demonstrate that their products are safe and that they meet all the rules and associated requirements.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl