Autonomous Driving In Japan – Part 3: Liabilities

Autonomous driving will shift our traditional understanding of driver responsibility as decisions behind the wheel will be heavily dictated by technology, rather than the driver's skill and responsiveness.

Several governments are considering re-shaping existing liability regimes to accommodate the novel technology. There is no indication that the Japanese government has any immediate plans to overhaul existing legislation. Given the forthcoming debut of Japan's first 'eyes off' (or 'Level 3') autonomous vehicle (see part 1 of this blog series), it is important to understand how the existing liability law regime works.

For example: 

• Person A is the owner of a Level 3 vehicle manufactured by an original equipment manufacturer (OEM).