We are standing at the cusp of a technological revolution and the focal point of it is artificial intelligence. It has permeated our lives in every aspect, whether it is AI-generated images, Chat GPT, Sophia, Alexa, Siri or Tesla’s self-driving cars, these names need no introduction. Companies like Tesla paint a picture of future cities with cars which require no driver, traffic flowing seamlessly, leaving little scope for accidents or irregularities in the traffic. Can this be the future of our smart cities? When it comes to smart cities, there is no ‘one size fits all’, its planning can be influenced by the demography and topography of cities and the preferences of its citizens. Transportation is a key player in the smart city’s strategy. Autonomous vehicles are said to be the future of the sector. The reason behind this development primarily is the risk associated with human drivers. It will ensure disciplined driving and will improve traffic flow, lessen jams and travel time, and save money. It is also expected that disciplined and planned driving will consume lesser fuel and will turn out to be sustainable. Catering to the sustainability goals of the strategy. Autonomous mobiles will be a crucial aspect of smart city planning, including public and private vehicles that will be partially or fully automated. Platooning of public autonomous vehicles can be a viable option for future smart cities. Companies like Waymo, Tesla, Cruise, and Baidu are all working on their prototypes of robotaxis, which are shared autonomous taxis. It is being tested in cities like San Francisco, Shanghai and Singapore. The journey of people traveling on the same routes can be clubbed via an app/software. Such shared taxis can be an efficient and sustainable transportation option for smart cities. However, this can only be enforced by understanding the effects of such AVs on the city’s infrastructure and its people. This transition from human-driven to autonomous cars will not be seamless, as there is an ambiguity about how the same will fit into existing legal and regulatory frameworks. The journey from man to machine won’t be as seamless as expected unless the issues faced and the challenges to be brought out are identified and their solutions are explored. Connected automated vehicles involve sensitive data sharing and it is imperative to have an efficient legal framework to monitor the same. The law should precede innovation; the legislative vacuum in India leads to skepticism in the minds of prospective consumers and hence becomes one of the biggest preliminary hurdles to it. This chapter aims to investigate the various challenges concerning autonomous vehicles and to propose a legal solution concerning liability and privacy questions, in order to balance the consumer interest and manufacturer’s responsibility. It will also discuss the freedom and privacy-related issues that pertain to it. Its objective will be to analyze the potential long-term benefits and drawbacks of introducing autonomous vehicles in various smart city archetypes and the viability of robotaxis as a means of shared transportation. It will strive to provide legal solutions to the question of liability of autonomous vehicles.

Smart City Planning and Autonomous Vehicles: Liability and Privacy Concerns for Smart City Strategy

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发表日期：

2025年

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Aishwarya Vatsa

摘要

We are standing at the cusp of a technological revolution and the focal point of it is artificial intelligence. It has permeated our lives in every aspect, whether it is AI-generated images, Chat GPT, Sophia, Alexa, Siri or Tesla’s self-driving cars, these names need no introduction. Companies like Tesla paint a picture of future cities with cars which require no driver, traffic flowing seamlessly, leaving little scope for accidents or irregularities in the traffic. Can this be the future of our smart cities? When it comes to smart cities, there is no ‘one size fits all’, its planning can be influenced by the demography and topography of cities and the preferences of its citizens. Transportation is a key player in the smart city’s strategy. Autonomous vehicles are said to be the future of the sector. The reason behind this development primarily is the risk associated with human drivers. It will ensure disciplined driving and will improve traffic flow, lessen jams and travel time, and save money. It is also expected that disciplined and planned driving will consume lesser fuel and will turn out to be sustainable. Catering to the sustainability goals of the strategy. Autonomous mobiles will be a crucial aspect of smart city planning, including public and private vehicles that will be partially or fully automated. Platooning of public autonomous vehicles can be a viable option for future smart cities. Companies like Waymo, Tesla, Cruise, and Baidu are all working on their prototypes of robotaxis, which are shared autonomous taxis. It is being tested in cities like San Francisco, Shanghai and Singapore. The journey of people traveling on the same routes can be clubbed via an app/software. Such shared taxis can be an efficient and sustainable transportation option for smart cities. However, this can only be enforced by understanding the effects of such AVs on the city’s infrastructure and its people. This transition from human-driven to autonomous cars will not be seamless, as there is an ambiguity about how the same will fit into existing legal and regulatory frameworks. The journey from man to machine won’t be as seamless as expected unless the issues faced and the challenges to be brought out are identified and their solutions are explored. Connected automated vehicles involve sensitive data sharing and it is imperative to have an efficient legal framework to monitor the same. The law should precede innovation; the legislative vacuum in India leads to skepticism in the minds of prospective consumers and hence becomes one of the biggest preliminary hurdles to it. This chapter aims to investigate the various challenges concerning autonomous vehicles and to propose a legal solution concerning liability and privacy questions, in order to balance the consumer interest and manufacturer’s responsibility. It will also discuss the freedom and privacy-related issues that pertain to it. Its objective will be to analyze the potential long-term benefits and drawbacks of introducing autonomous vehicles in various smart city archetypes and the viability of robotaxis as a means of shared transportation. It will strive to provide legal solutions to the question of liability of autonomous vehicles.