Autonomous driving needs clarification of legal and ethical issues

With the S500 Intelligent Drive trip from Mannheim to Pforzheim in 2013, Mercedes-Benz was the first automobile manufacturer in the world to prove that urban and inter-urban autonomous driving is already possible today using near-series standard technology.

The next milestone in the development of autonomous driving followed a year later with the Future Truck 2025. The current research vehicle, the F015 Luxury in Motion, uses its revolutionary interior concept to show how space and time can be used meaningfully and safely in the future.

"Many of our customers are using partially automated driving functions in our S-, E- and C-Classes as well as soon in our new GLE Coupé. We develop these technologies further with high pressure and thus make autonomous driving more and more tangible with each generation of driver assistance systems," said Professor Thomas Weber, member of the board of management of Daimler AG responsible for Group Research & Development Mercedes-Benz Cars.

"The requirements to bring autonomous driving functions onto the road however, go far beyond the technical development and also include the clarification of legal and ethical issues in particular."

Promoting dialogue

That is why Daimler is also promoting the dialogue on legal and ethical issues relating to autonomous driving. "How should a self-driving vehicle react in an impending accident? What are the consequences with respect to liability and insurance? These are just some of the questions we need to find answers to through social discourse," said Dr Christine Hohmann-Dennhardt, member of the board of management of Daimler AG, responsible for Integrity and Legal Affairs. The former German Federal Constitutional Court judge is convinced that responsible autonomous driving is based on law and ethics.

This year, Dr Hohmann-Dennhardt has initiated a number of measures on the topic of 'Ethics and Law'. A cross-divisional steering committee of experts from various Daimler units is dealing with the legal and ethical issues relating to autonomous driving. The committee receives important input from the Advisory Board for Integrity and Corporate Responsibility, an external body that has been providing Daimler with critical and constructive support since 2012.

In the fall, Daimler will hold an expert conference on 'Autonomous Driving, Law and Ethics' for the first time. The aim of the conference is to continue the dialogue with representatives of the economy, science, politics and NGOs. The keynote speech will be given by Professor Julian Nida-Rümelin, philosophy professor at LMU Munich and former State Minister for Culture, who is working on issues relating to robo ethics and machine ethics.

The legal and ethical issues relating to autonomous driving will also be examined during the 2015 Sustainability Dialogue. This event, which will be held in Stuttgart on 11 and 12 November, brings together around 100 external stakeholders and Daimler experts each year in order to discuss the latest issues relating to sustainability.