In 2018, automation and its applications are at the forefront of technological innovation. An area where this is especially true is the realm of self-driving cars.
Last month, the debate over the merits of autonomous cars was fueled by a self-driving Uber that hit and killed a pedestrian who was walking her bike across the street at night. Although there was an emergency backup driver behind the wheel, this is thought of as the first time an autonomous vehicle has caused a fatal accident with a pedestrian.
Fatal car accidents happen every day, so what about this particular accident makes it so noteworthy?
U.S. Car Accident Fatalities (2010-2016)
When a car accident occurs between two human drivers, fault is usually assigned to either one of them or a combination of both. This will vary from state to state depending on comparative fault laws, but in general, those with the largest share of fault or negligence will have to pay the larger share of damages. However, when it comes to accidents involving cars that do not have any drivers, the situation becomes much more complicated. Someone has to be at fault, but who is it? The car manufacturer constructed the car, but someone else created the self-driving software and the driver themselves purchased the vehicle.
This is precisely the question facing the automotive industry and due to the lack of precedent, a lot of these questions have never even been asked before, let alone researched and answered. Additionally, as the laws governing these types of vehicles are formulated, each state will create its own set of rules that may or may not differ greatly from each other. For a full list of the legislation that has been passed by each state regarding autonomous cars so far, please visit here.
Determining Liability
Although each state will develop a separate set of laws governing self-driving vehicles, there seems to be a common agreement that liability will be passed from the owner and operator to the maker.
Vehicle manufacturers are already liable for certain malfunctions and design flaws and recalls happen all the time. However, with the introduction of autonomous technology, the issue has become less clear cut, especially as the technology is evolving. In the above-mentioned case, the video footage shows that the emergency backup driver is not paying attention to the road, and one could argue that an attentive driver could have at the very least swerved and saved the pedestrian’s life. On the other hand, it could be argued that Uber should have been aware of the technology’s shortcomings and they are negligent for making it ready for road testing.
The case above is just one example of how it is not always easy to determine where fault lies, and until this point, the issue has been avoided for exactly this reason. In addition to the case above, imagine some other scenarios – should a car manufacturer be held liable even if a vehicle is not maintained properly or damaged? Should drivers have to sign some form of release to own one of these vehicles? What happens when a car is forced to choose between killing the passenger or hitting others? We spoke with Alex Fiol, a car accident lawyer in Tampa, who said that many of the autonomous vehicle crashes to date have been settled outside of court and away from the public eye, so a lot of these tough questions have not been widely addressed, something that may change with this most recent Uber incident.
The Future of Self-Driving Cars
There’s no secret that autonomous driving technology has the potential to drastically cut down on driving related deaths. However, it is apparent both from the law and the technology itself that there are still many aspects that are under development. It is unrealistic to assume that car accidents will be eliminated completely, and someone will have to take responsibility when they inevitably occur. Faced with a new type of legal question, now the law must figure out exactly who that is.