자율주행차의 운행자성 및 운전자성 인정에 대한 시론(試論)

In the case of autonomous vehicle, the actual driving is carried out by the autonomous driving system without any human intervention. Therefore, the obligations to prevent traffic accidents and to comply with road traffic rules are imposed on autonomous vehicles not on human drivers. However, it is difficult to regulate illegal activities and risks that autonomous vehicles can potentially cause, since autonomous vehicles do not have legal personality under the current legal system. As a result, the discussion on civil liability concerning the distribution of responsibility for traffic accidents involving autonomous vehicles is proceeding in the way of either expanding the responsibility of operators or expanding the responsibility of the manufacturers' product liability. However, this approach may lead to unreasonable consequences such as unreasonably overburdening operators or manufacturers who have not engaged in actual driving. Therefore, as a prior study, this paper reviews the discussion on recognition of the operator and civil liability issues regarding autonomous vehicles and analyzes the limitations of current discussion. In order to overcome these limitations, this paper conducts an experimental analysis on whether it is possible not only to recognize autonomous vehicles as either operators or drivers but also to negate human drivers as operators or drivers. Discussion on the possibility of granting legal personality to autonomous vehicles covered in this paper can be a starting point for further discussions on the establishment of a new civil liability legislation that can overcome the limitations of the current civil liability system.