Civil Liability for Damage Caused by Autonomous Vehicles Under Spanish Law

This study analyses the legal regime of civil liability for damages derived from accidents involving motor vehicles, whether autonomous or not. The irruption of such vehicles into legal traffic is a novelty that Spanish legislation must address. The legitimation for compensation will correspond to the owner of the damaged assets, the injured party and, if applicable, to the relatives, to the legally predetermined relatives with presumptive character in the event of death. Compensation for damages shall follow the general system of valuation for pecuniary damage or the legal system of valuation for personal injury, without the injured party having to suffer a loss in this respect depending on whether or not the vehicle is an autonomous one. The liability, in the absence of a driver, by virtue of the pro damanato principle, prevailing in Spanish law, must fall on the owner of the vehicle, and his liability must be interpreted as strict liability, and on the insurance company or the Insurance Compensation Consortium, as the case may be. If the loss was due to the defective nature of the vehicle, in any of its facets, the owner could claim against the manufacturer.