New Liability Concepts: the Potential of Insurance and Compensation Funds

Autonomous systems have become embedded in the daily lives of hu‐ mans. Autonomous cars, which are the autonomous systems currently at‐ tracting most public attention, have already been admitted to general road traffic in some US States.1 In Germany, autonomous cars are being taken onto public streets in a rapidly increasing number of testing projects. The first international testing area for autonomous vehicles including German roads is has been established in Saarland, Lothringen and Luxemburg.2 Autonomous vehicles are not the only form of autonomous system which are enjoying increased acceptance in today’s society. Indeed, it could be said that the vacuum-cleaner robot is Germany’s favourite child. Sales of vacuum-cleaner robots make up a quarter of all vacuumcleaners in Ger‐ many and this trend is rising.3 I.