The new applications of artificial intelligence to driving systems allow important changes that will lead to new means of transport, in which drivers can operate remotely, or which operate autonomously, governed by a programming software that allows a constant connection with the infrastructures on which they move.
This will affect the attribution of liability to third parties and ultimately the related insurance coverage. It is believed that the responsibility has to follow the criterion of the control of the vehicle, so as to attribute responsibility to the subjects that have the technical, but also economic and functional, control, according to the different degrees of control assigned to them, both to third parties and to those with whom they are contractually bound.
The first legislations enacted on the liability for damage caused by the circulation of autonomous vehicles provide for a mandatory insurance coverage; some types of insurance coverage for damage from cyber-attacks are also re- cently considered.
With the introduction of highly automated means of transport, or even autonomous driving, we must also consider that even any ethical choice of driving behavior can be performed by design, that is in the pre-determination of the parameters of behavior of the means of transport, according to probabilistic calculations that however directly affect the life or safety of the subjects included in the event, whether they are passengers or owners of the vehicle, or third parties outside the means of transport. Or the behavioral choice can be preset by the purchaser of the vehicle during the purchase phase, selecting between different criteria of conduct.
Recent experiments tell us that human beings act in a utilitarian way, and that they try to minimize damage from vehicle circulation by choosing the les- ser evil. However, the predetermination of the guiding criteria in utilitarian terms by the purchaser could perhaps reduce the role of the programmer, while it would leave the choice of behavior to the user and therefore its possible relevance in the assessment of civil liability.
