1. Automobile company

2. Insurance company

3. Government

4. Driver

5. I don't know

Are you confused? I'm the same way. Perhaps it would be better if multiple correct answers were allowed. The term "joint responsibility" was clearly invented for situations like this. If I had to ask the reporter again, I'd vote for "Oh! I don't know either." If truly autonomous vehicles ever emerge, the parties involved will likely be racking their brains over this issue. (I doubt insurance companies in Korea would quickly settle on a 5:3:2 ratio.)

Autonomous vehicles. These are vehicles that literally navigate to their destinations without the driver having to operate the steering wheel, accelerator, or brakes.

If you're in your 30s or 40s, think of the cars in Dengeki Z (1983) or the movie Total Recall (1990). A car that drives itself—how wonderful. The thought of not having to bother seeking a rest stop when you feel drowsy while driving is a simple one.

Perhaps that's why there's so much hype surrounding self-driving cars. Let's look at this TV commercial (for the Hyundai Genesis). The driver, wearing a black blindfold, takes his hands off the wheel and folds them gently across his chest in an X. The car drives on its own without any concern.

According to the automaker, Advanced Smart Cruise Control adjusted speed to maintain a safe distance from the car in front, and Lane Keeping Assist kept the car within its lane. When the car in front suddenly stopped, the Auto Emergency Braking system automatically stopped the car. Don't worry about the technical details. This is also an autonomous system that the car operates on its own.

The question of who will be held accountable for accidents is one of the more pressing questions raised by concerns about the safety of autonomous vehicles. How do we determine the likelihood of an accident due to malfunction (even the cause of sudden acceleration is still unclear in Korea), and there is no legal basis for determining the scope of liability in the event of an accident?

Google has passed safety tests for its self-driving cars in Las Vegas and other cities, and California is revising its autonomous vehicle laws. Nevada has become the first state in the world to permit autonomous vehicles and issue driver's licenses.

Meanwhile, IT companies were flying high above the moving cars. As is well known, Google has been focusing on developing autonomous driving technology since 2009. Google's self-driving cars, which garnered even more attention after a series of minor accidents (a total of 14) last June, have driven approximately 2.896 million kilometers since 2009. Google announced that its self-driving cars drive an average of 16,000 kilometers per week in autonomous mode. Furthermore, Apple, which announced its development of autonomous driving technology in 2015, is aiming for fully autonomous driving.

In this way, autonomous driving technology has become one of the technologies that has made imagination a reality. Just as the iPhone redefine the smartphone, perhaps the concept of automobiles needs to be redefined. The problem is that technology alone cannot create a market. The industry predicts that by 2020, most legal restrictions, autonomous driving infrastructure, and vehicle security issues will be resolved.

This reporter hopes (and dares to predict) that this will happen. In a survey conducted by this newspaper, engineers most frequently cited self-driving cars as the technology they dreamed of becoming a reality. It may sound far-fetched, but it's not. It's right before our eyes. We mustn't return to the days when the loudest voices were held accountable for self-driving car accidents.