자동차와 소비자 보호의 문제 - 자동차의 하자 및 결함을 중심으로-

A automobile is one of the indispensable necessities of modern people. Thus, the number of supply of automobiles explosively increased, but accordingly, various problems have occurred. This paper divided flaws in automobiles into purchases of a new car and a used car to suggest a solution to the issues occurring in the relevant automobiles from the consumer’s position. Also, regarding sudden acceleration that has recently become a social issue, this study dealt with the problems of the Product Liability Act and the sudden acceleration of the automobile. First, the Product Liability Act is assumed to follow legal principles of risk liabilities or liabilities without faults, which acknowledge a claim for damages even though consumers prove a cause attributable to the manufacturer, if they prove flaws. Yet, regarding the actual sudden acceleration of the automobile, proving automobile flaws is almost the same as proving the cause attributable to the manufacturer, which needs supplementation. In addition, the Product Liability Act provides an escapeway in which manufacturers can be exempted from responsibilities by acknowledging various causes for exemption even if consumers prove flaws, which is also problematic in terms of consumer protection. Lastly, regarding extinctive prescription of the Product Liability Act, although there are considerably many automobiles that were delivered more than 10 years ago, it is provided that manufacturers are exempted from responsibilities on the Product Liability Act 10 years after the date of the supply of the product, which is relatively short term, it can be said that there is room for reconsideration considering the distinctiveness of the automobile. Thus, regarding this, since consumers are also responsible for the management and conservation of automobiles, for key components of the automobiles closely related to driving: for example, flaws by the parts, ECU, TCU or ABS modules, extending the period of extinctive prescription to 20 years may be a way. In sum, for automobiles, unlike general products, there are problems: e.g., if damage occurs, the range is likely to expand, and it is difficult for consumers to prove their product flaws, so it is difficult to solve them by the frame of the existing Product Liability Act. Therefore, enacting a special law to resolve disputes over automobiles considering this particularity may be one way.