Navigating Liability in Autonomous Vehicles: Applying Hohfeld’s Framework to Enhance Legal Accountability in India’s AI-Driven Transportation

ABSTRACT

Unlike in India where liability and accountability are ambiguous, artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly integrated into autonomous vehicles in a way that has surpassed some legal grounds. It employs a version of Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld’s eight legal conceptions (right, duty, privilege, no right, power, liability, immunity, and disability), however applied to stakeholder relationships in autonomous vehicle accidents. The paper identifies the gaps in India’s legal system through the study of India, United States, European Union and China followed by a critical analysis of the case study. Drawing from these findings, this paper argues that Hohfeld’s framework helps to clarify complex liability issues in the field of law, and can be an approach leading toward the development of precise legal regulations that can guarantee fairness and safety of AI driven transport.