Self-driving cars and the chilling effect of liability law

Experimental self-driving cars are being tested on public roads, and will at some point be commercially sold or made otherwise available to the public. A self-driving car and its digital control systems take over control tasks previously performed by the human driver. This places high demands on this control system which has to perform the highly complex task of driving the car through traffic. When this system does not perform its task adequately and damage ensues the failure of the control system may be used as a stepping stone to claim liability of the manufacturer of the car or the control system. Uncertainties about the application of (product) liability law may slow down the uptake of self-driving cars more than is warranted on the basis of technical progress. This article examines how the decision about the timing of a market introduction can be approached and how possible chilling effects of liability law can be redressed with an adequate system of obligatory insurance.