Civil liability for damage caused by a physical defect of an autonomous car in Polish law

The issue of liability for damage caused by the movement of a defective autonomous car is multi-faceted and multi-problem. The purpose of the article is to investigate the issue of liability for damage caused by a physical defect in an autonomous car in the Polish civil law system and determining whether the currently existing civil law regulations are sufficient for effective protection of victims. The paper begins with a definition of an autonomous car – that is a vehicle enabled with technology which has the capability of operating without the active control or monitoring of a natural person. Next, the levels of automation (from 0 to 5) are presented. The following describes the concept of a physical defect. The next part is an analysis of the theories that can be applied to the problem of autonomous vehicles, along with an assessment of the effects of their use. Finally, conclusions from the analysis of the title issue are included.