Driverless Cars!

- July 13, 2020

Driverless vehicles are becoming more of a reality. Who should bear the responsibility for damages caused by a crash involving driverless cars?

Driverless vehicles are cars or trucks in which human drivers are never required to take control to safely operate the vehicle.

They combine sensors and software to control, navigate, and drive the vehicle.

Various self driving technologies have been developed by Google, Uber, Tesla,

Nissan, and other major automakers and technology companies.

While design details vary, most driverless cars

create and maintain a virtual map of their surroundings.

Software then processes those inputs, plots a path, and sends the instructions to the

vehicles “actuators,” which control acceleration, braking, and steering.

The costs and benefits of self-driving cars are still hypothetical.

We still need more information as to how they will impact drivers, the economy, and environmental and public health.

However, safety is a major concern.

Thousands of people die in motor crashes every year in the United States

because of things like distracted driving, speeding, reckless driving, and tailgating.

In Nevada from 2018-2019, there were 170 fatal collisions resulting in 190 deaths.

Self-driving vehicles could , “hypothetically,” reduce that number.

Software could prove to be less error-prone than humans.

But cyber security is still a chief concern.

So what would happen if two self-driving vehicles were to collide?

Who would take the blame? When two cars collide under normal circumstances,

law holds that the at-fault party is responsible for all damages.

So when a car is technically driving itself, the liability would rest in one or more of three options:

1. Human Error - Human error is still the first place in which a victim should look. Sometimes, even the best technology cannot protect the public from human operators, if the human driver has ultimate control of the vehicle. Could the backup driver have done something to prevent the crash? If the driver fails to remain alert while at the wheel, then the driver may be responsible for the crash.

2. Vehicle Malfunction- Sometimes technology simply fails. As anyone who has tried to operate a normal vehicle knows, brakes can go bad, engines can fail, and parts can be defective. If a driverless vehicle is operating properly and then fails, then the manufacturer might be the appropriate party to hold responsible.

3. Lax Government Oversight- A government regulatory agency that permits self-driving vehicles to be tested on public roads may be responsible for allowing experimental vehicle testing on public roadways if the testing exposes the public to unreasonable risk of harm.

4. Improper design or malfunctioning- In some cases, the design of the vehicle is defective. For instance, there have been traditional vehicles that have been manufactured with centers of gravity that are too high.