自动驾驶汽车交通事故侵权责任主体研究

Research on the Subjects of Tort Liability in Traffic Accidents Involving Autonomous Driving for Vehicles

摘要: 自动驾驶技术虽为出行带来了高效与便捷，却颠覆了传统驾驶模式下驾驶员主导责任的逻辑。随着自动化程度的提升，人类驾驶员的主导地位弱化，事故常因系统感知缺陷或决策延迟引发，传统责任认定规则的局限性日益凸显。因自动驾驶存在多级自动化模式，不同模式下的法律问题呈现显著差异。本文引入国内首起特斯拉自动驾驶致死案，剖析实践中责任主体认定的困境，即事故发生于自动驾驶状态，驾驶员未实际操控，系统缺陷为直接诱因，现行规定难以适配这一现状。依据《汽车驾驶自动化分级》国标，本文从人类是否实际操控的维度出发，将运行过程划分为需要人为接管与无需人为接管两类场景。针对前者，明确驾驶员监督义务的边界；对于后者，聚焦系统缺陷引发的侵权，重新搭建责任分析框架，探讨制造商、系统开发商等主体的责任分配，旨在完善自动驾驶事故侵权责任的救济路径，为技术革新下的法律实践提供更精准的参考。

Abstract: Although autonomous driving technology brings efficiency and convenience to travel, it has overturned the logic of driver-led responsibility in traditional driving modes. As the degree of automation increases, the dominant position of human drivers weakens, and accidents often occur due to system perception defects or decision-making delays, highlighting the limitations of traditional liability determination rules. Due to the multi-level automation modes of autonomous driving, legal issues vary significantly in different modes. This paper introduces the first domestic fatal accident caused by Tesla’s autonomous driving, analyzing the predicament in determining the responsible party in practice. That is, the accident occurred in the autonomous driving state, the driver did not actually control, and the system defect was the direct cause. The current regulations are difficult to adapt to this situation. Based on the national standard “Grading of Driving Automation for Vehicles”, this paper divides the operation process into two types of scenarios: those requiring human takeover and those not requiring human takeover from the perspective of whether humans actually control. For the former, the boundaries of the driver’s supervisory obligations are clarified; for the latter, focusing on the infringement caused by system defects, a new liability analysis framework is reconstructed, and the responsibility allocation of manufacturers, system developers, and other subjects is discussed. The aim is to improve the relief path for tort liability in autonomous driving accidents and provide more accurate references for legal practice under technological innovation.