Legal Problems Concerning the Liability in the Control of Autonomous Vehicles

Abstract

It can be said that autonomous vehicles are one of the important factors in life, whether they are private or public transport vehicles. Moreover, technological advancement in the automotive industry has developed immensely and never stopped. Especially, if talking about autonomous vehicles, there has been only continuous advancement in their competence which yields benefits to human beings in society. However, if we look at the advancement of autonomous vehicles and the legal liability that will play a role in it, it might be considered as a double-edged sword, namely, legal problems that cannot keep pace with technological changes. As in the case in Arizona, the United States, an accident caused by an autonomous vehicle led to death. Another accident was in Tokyo, Japan where one of the driverless buses transporting athletes and officials in the area of the athletes’ village during the Paralympic Games hit a Japanese judo athlete while crossing the road. The accident caused him to withdraw from the competition. If such an incident occurred in Thailand, how would the current state of Thai law support the status of autonomous vehicles? Moreover, how would the legal measures be implemented to control, remedy, and prevent problems that would cause losses of both offenders and victims in the future?