TOWARDS A EUROPEAN REGULATION OF AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES — EU PERSPECTIVES AND THE GERMAN MODEL

Abstract

Until recent years, it seemed so futuristic that the time would come when no drivers would be needed and cars would drive themselves. Today, the existence of socalled self-driving cars (in other words, autonomous or automated cars) and their participation in road transport is reality, and that raises countless legal and ethical questions. Nowadays, more and more essays and publications analyse the regulatory issues and various aspects of self-driving cars in a comprehensive manner. In order to create a regulation on self-driving cars, the mapping of the legal questions raised by the appearance of these vehicles is essential. Among these questions, liability issues relating to self-driving cars are undoubtedly the most important questions, but other legal aspects shall also be examined. The use of intellectual properties (e.g. software) in the course of the operation of self-driving cars raises questions in the field of copyright law. Furthermore, the installation of so-called ‘black box’ into self-driving cars, specifically the data recording possibilities of this equipment and the prescription of the data retention duty in order to allow for the reconstruction of an incidental accident caused by the self-driving car, raises further questions. These issues fall within the field of data protection law.