Establishing Insurance System Including Mandatory Autonomous Vehicle Driving Information

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] By the second half of this year, autonomous driving information recording devices for self-driving cars will be mandatory, and an investigation committee dedicated to related accidents will be established.

Following the world's first establishment of safety standards for autonomous vehicles last year, this marks the full-scale establishment of an autonomous vehicle insurance system.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the morning of the 31st that the partial amendment bill of the "Automobile Damage Compensation Guarantee Act," which sets insurance systems in preparation for autonomous vehicle accidents, was passed at the Cabinet meeting held at the Blue House presided over by President Moon Jae-in.

The core contents of this amendment include regulation of damages caused by autonomous vehicle accidents, insurance payment, and recourse against manufacturers.

In the event that damage occurs to others due to an accident while operating an autonomous vehicle, the insurance company with which the vehicle owner is currently insured will primarily pay the insurance money and compensate for damages promptly, as is the current practice. In case of an accident caused by a defect, recourse can be made against the manufacturer or other responsible parties.

To this end, Article 29-2 of the Automobile Damage Compensation Act was newly established to clearly stipulate that recourse can be made against manufacturers or other responsible parties if an accident occurs due to an autonomous vehicle defect. This reflects the international trend of protecting victims of autonomous vehicle accidents. The United Kingdom and Germany have completed legal amendments with such content, and Japan has decided to apply the current insurance system as is.

Additionally, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will require the installation of autonomous driving information recording devices to technically identify the cause of accidents and will establish an accident investigation committee to investigate these incidents. This amendment is scheduled to take effect six months after its promulgation, and to ensure smooth implementation of the amended law, subordinate laws such as enforcement ordinances of the Automobile Damage Compensation Act will be prepared.

The amendment also includes provisions to abolish the automobile insurance repair fee publication system introduced in 2003 and instead operate an Insurance Repair Council composed of public representatives, the insurance industry, and the repair industry to discuss matters related to the calculation of insurance repair fees.

Kim Sang-seok, Director of Automobile Management at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "We will establish systems to support technological development in the autonomous vehicle sector, which will be a core industry leading the future," and added, "We will establish insurance systems and others without any setbacks so that the public can operate autonomous vehicles with peace of mind."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.