Autonomous vehicle with automatic driving – who is responsible in case of an accident

Hello and greetings, your question is important and interesting.

With the development of technology and the improvement of autonomous driving, several countries have recently begun to legally allow Level 3 autonomous driving, and in a few countries even Level 4 and 5, meaning completely autonomous driving without the need for the vehicle owner to be present at the wheel at all. Hence, your question arises: who is responsible according to halacha in the event of an accident and damage that occurs during autonomous driving?

As we all know, the Torah obligates a person to be responsible for their actions so as not to harm others. Therefore, a person is liable, whether by coercion or by mistake, when driving a vehicle and causing an accident [except for an unusual case that the person could not have anticipated and guarded against].

However, this does not apply to a car with automatic driving, since the person is not driving it or controlling it; rather, the car drives itself, accelerates by itself, and stops by itself, turns by itself, and stops at traffic lights by itself. Therefore, the person cannot be held liable for the damages caused by the car under the principle of ‘a person causing damage,’ as they did not drive the car; the car drove itself.

Although the person did indeed operate the vehicle and gave the instruction on where to go, this action in itself did not cause harm; rather, it was the autonomous driving of the vehicle that caused the damage. The maximum that can be attributed to the person is that they caused indirect damage unintentionally, and the ruling is that the person is exempt from both human law and divine law, from both liability and payments, similar to the case of an unintentional indirect damage.

However, this is only in terms of the person’s obligation for their actions, like the law regarding a person who causes damage. Indeed, wherever a person is required to maintain and be responsible for the vehicle despite autonomous driving, if they did not maintain it properly and the vehicle caused damage, they should be held liable for payments, just like a person who lights a fire and does not maintain it properly. This is because when the vehicle is in motion, it is in a state that is not safe and is similar to a fire that burns everything in its path.

Therefore, an autonomous vehicle operating at automation level 3, which requires the owner’s responsibility and supervision, if the owner did not supervise and the vehicle caused damage, the owner should be held liable for payments. However, a vehicle operating at automation levels 4 or 5, which does not require a driver to supervise the vehicle, if the vehicle caused damage, the owner and/or the operator are exempt from payments.

The above is from a halachic perspective, in the absence of legal reference to this matter. However, if the law establishes liability for payments in these cases, some say that even according to halacha, the vehicle owner or driver should be obligated to make payments as per the law’s provisions, because by operating the vehicle on the road, while being aware of the law’s rules, they accept the law’s provisions regarding payment obligations.

With many blessings

Rabbi David Ohayon