Mobility at the time of the Coronavirus and damage caused by vehicles equipped with electronic safety system

The introduction of technologies that make vehicles safer is important to address the foreseeable criticalities of road traffic due to the lower capacity of public transport as a result of social distancing measures. In this unique situation, the objective of limiting the spread of the epidemic cannot overshadow the prevention of accidents and human health must be guaranteed with respect to all possible risks. However, new safety systems are not completely failsafe. With these cases in mind, the article proposes to verify the extent to which current rules on civil liability in Italian law may offer solutions to damages caused by highly automated vehicles in terms of preventing harmful events and allocating their costs according to criteria of justice and economic efficiency. Within this logic, the analysis also looks at the rules on the distribution of compensation costs among the various parties that may be jointly and severally liable (driver, owner, custodian or manufacturer).