Autonomous vehicles and liabilty

On behalf of Aiken and Aiken P.C. Personal Injury Attorneys posted in Car Accidents, on Thursday, October 22, 2015

With news of autonomous cars making headlines, many Massachusetts residents may be wondering when they will get their first glimpse of a self-driving vehicle on their public roads. However, others may be wondering what happens should that care become involved in a crash. In normal crashes, the driver who caused the accident would be responsible. However, since autonomous cars rely on computers and sensors and not drivers, determining fault can be more difficult. Google, one of the companies that has been developing this technology, has estimated that 94 percent of all car accidents are caused by human error. However, the other 6 percent is what is so worrisome to many people. There are questions whether self-driving vehicles will be able to suddenly react in order to avoid a crash and whether the vehicles will risk injury for the occupants or attempt to avoid the accident altogether, potentially causing injuries to other vehicle occupants or pedestrians. Representatives from both Google and Mercedes-Benz have stated that their companies would accept liability if their autonomous vehicles cause an accident. The president and CEO of Volvo quickly followed suit. This is considered to be a big deal as trials have shown that the test cars can be quite finicky in difficult weather. They also reportedly have trouble when it comes to interpreting gestures from other drivers and even pedestrians. People who are injured in motor vehicle accidents often face prolonged recovery periods with high medical expenses, and in some cases they are unable to return to work and thus lose wages that they had been counting on. In the event that an accident was caused by a negligent driver, a personal injury attorney can be of assistance in seeking compensation on behalf of the injured victim from the at-fault motorist.