Who is responsible for an accident involving a driverless vehicle? Hangzhou City has given the answer: the owner of the vehicle

As the technology of intelligent vehicles matures, driverless cars have gone from science fiction to reality. Many cities at home and abroad have already carried out testing and application of intelligent cars, and some places have even started operating driverless taxis. However, the development of intelligent cars has also brought some new problems, the most notable of which is who should bear the responsibility when intelligent cars violate traffic laws or accidents?

In order to solve this problem, Hangzhou City recently proposed for review for the first time the "Hangzhou Regulations on Promoting the Testing and Application of Intelligent Connected Vehicles (Draft)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations (Draft)"). The "Regulations (Draft)" is the first local regulation in China for the testing and application of intelligent vehicles, and aims to provide legal protection and guidance for the development of intelligent vehicles.

The Draft Regulations clarify the definition, classification, testing and application subjects, management and service platforms of smart cars, and other basic contents, and clearly stipulate the traffic violations and accident responsibilities of smart cars. Among them, the most noteworthy is that the Draft Regulations divide the traffic violations and accident responsibilities in the case of "no one in the car".

According to the Draft Regulations, when there is no one in a smart car, if there is a traffic violation, the car owner or vehicle manager will be punished according to law; if there is a responsible accident, the testing and application entity will bear the liability for compensation. In other words, in this case, whether it is a violation or an accident, the passenger will not be responsible, but the car owner or operator will be responsible.

The introduction of this regulation provides a clearer legal basis and guarantee for the development of smart cars. At the same time, it also provides reference and reference for other cities and regions. It is reported that the "Regulations (Draft)" will further solicit opinions from all walks of life and be revised and improved. It is expected to be officially released and implemented before the end of the year.

As an important trend and direction of future transportation, smart cars have huge market potential and social value. According to the forecast of an authoritative organization, by 2025, the global market size of smart connected cars will reach 1.2 trillion US dollars; by 2030, there will be more than 300 million smart connected cars on the road; by 2050, smart connected cars will account for more than 90% of the total number of cars in the world.

In this context, China is also actively promoting the development of smart cars. Recently, the State Council issued the "Guiding Opinions on Deepening Open Cooperation in the New Generation of Artificial Intelligence and Accelerating the Construction of New International Relations", which proposed important measures to accelerate the development of the intelligent networked vehicle industry, including strengthening top-level design, improving regulations and standards, promoting infrastructure construction, and promoting industrial innovation.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.