Civil Liability for Self-Driving Cars in Dutch Law

This chapter discusses the Dutch rules on civil liability for accidents involving traditional cars and self-driving cars. In Dutch law, various parties may be liable in the case of accidents with a self-driving car: the owner or keeper, the driver, the possessor, the manufacturer, the car mechanic. In practice, the owner or keeper will primarily be held liable as art. 185 WVW imposes strict liability for all accidents, even for self-driving cars. As insurance companies will cover the damages for such accidents, they may take recourse on car manufacturers on the basis of product liability or negligence. The driver (who is usually also covered by the car insurance) may also be liable on the basis of negligence if he could and should have intervened to prevent an accident. In the case of level 4 or 5 cars, the main issue is whether the courts will allow a driver to not pay attention continuously.