Japan to place accident liability on self-driving car owners

Japan plans to hold owners responsible for accidents involving self-driving cars, like regular vehicles, easing liability concerns among automakers and likely accelerating commercialization efforts. The policy is part of the guidelines governing autonomous cars unveiled by the government's Council on Investments for the Future Friday. The plan is to submit related legislation to the Diet as early as 2019. "By taking concrete steps toward a legal framework, I would like Japan to take the lead in creating international rules," said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at a council meeting. The guidelines are meant to set regulatory and legal direction before self-driving cars become widespread -- likely in the first half of the next decade.