About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

13 Cardozo L. Rev. 987 (1991 - 1992)
Distribution of Damages in Car Accidents through the Use of Neural Networks

handle is hein.journals/cdozo13 and id is 1009 raw text is: DISTRIBUTION OF DAMAGES IN CAR ACCIDENTS THROUGH THE USE OF NEURAL NETWORKS Lothar Philipps* ABSTRACT After a traffic accident the damage has to be fairly divided among the parties involved, and a ratio has to be determined. There are many precedents for this, and judges have developed cat- alogues suggesting ratios for common types of accidents. The problem that every case is different, however, remains. Many cases have familiar aspects, but also unfamiliar ones. Even if a case is composed of several familiar aspects with established ra- tios, the question remains as to how these are to be figured into one ratio. The first thought would be to invent a mathematical formula, but such formulae are rigid and speculative. The body of law has grown organically and must not be forced into a sleek sys- tem. The distant consequences of using a mathematical formula cannot be foreseen; they might well be grossly unjust. I suggest using a neural network instead. Precedents may be fed into the network directly as learning patterns. This has the advantage that court rulings can be transferred directly and not via a formula. Future modifications in court rulings also can be adopted by the network. As far as the effect of the learning pat- terns on new cases is concerned, a relatively safe assumption is that they will fit in harmoniously with the precedents. This is due to the network's structure-a number of simple decisional units, which are interconnected, tune their activity to each other, thus achieving a state of equilibrium. When the conditions of such an equilibrium are translated back into the terms of the case, the solu- tion can hardly be totally unjust. INTRODUCTION A. I would like to begin my discussion on the distribution of dam- ages in car accidents by refering to a legal case of inheritance from ancient Rome. This is not a far-fetched comparison; their children's * Professor of Law, Institut ffir Rechtsphilosophie und Rechtsinformatik der Ludwig- Maximilians-Universitat Munchen.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most