ByAccidents that involve self-driving have many legal challenges due to the advanced technology used in these vehicles. The primary issue in such cases includes determining who is really responsible for the accident when you know negligence is also a reason. Plus, laws surrounding self-driving cars are evolving so very rapidly, making it more difficult to build a case on accidents caused by these cars.
However, an expert lawyer can certainly decode such cases, especially renowned lawyers from big places like Miami. For example, many Miami car accident lawyers have the potential to solve high-profile cases involving expensive advanced technology cars.
Now, let us thoroughly understand the legal complexities of accidents involving self-driving cars.
What are the legal complexities of accidents involving self-driving cars?
Here are the top five legal complexities that occur in accidents involving self-driving cars:
1. Who is responsible? (liability)
Determining who is responsible for a self-driving car accident is very tricky, as no human was actually driving the car manually. Due to the machine being involved, things go in the technical direction, making the case a piece of work.
2. Proving Negligence
If the car owner in question wishes to avoid being held liable, he has to prove that he was following all the safety standards. He also must prove to the court that the car was designed and programmed to regulations laid for federal and state safety. This can also mean showing a demo of how the technology is tested for sensors and software.
3. Complications in determining liability
Many factors complicate the process of determining who was at fault when the self-driving car accident happened. For example, these factors can include things like design flaws, Software glitches, maintenance issues, sensor failures, cybersecurity threats, human interaction, or even AI limits.
4. The comparative fault rule
In many states, a rule called the comparative fault rule is laid down to determine the responsibility in the case. This means that each party involved in the accident will be blamed on a percentage depending on their role in the accident.
5. Changing laws involving self-driving cars
Since laws on self-driving cars are still evolving, they can change anytime and can vary from state to state. As these laws evolve and change, the cases surrounding self-driving car accidents will raise new questions and challenges.
What kind of safety concerns occur in the case of self-driving cars?
Self-driving cars change driving styles by making human interaction with the car less and less. However, even though it can improve some safety majors, it can also bring risks to the people sitting inside the car or the people around it. Driving might also lose the basic driving skills they learned over the years due to automated systems. This can lead to more accidents than before if the driver cannot handle his car if the machine goes wrong.
To be more specific, here are a few safety concerns that occur in the case of self-driving cars:
1. Crashing vehicles due to system malfunctions
If the self-driving car fails to detect road signs, changes in speed limit, and road conditions due to weather or any other reason, the vehicle will have a crash. All this can happen due to the malfunction of the system in the automated vehicle.
2. Pedestrian accidents due to difficult identification
Even though self-driving cars can identify signs and signals, they might face issues in identifying pedestrians or animals that are around while driving. This is because predicting a pedestrian’s and animal’s movements is a lot harder than identifying signs.
3. Hacking risks
Since self-driving cars rely on computer systems, they are very likely to get hacked by a skilled hacker. Hackers can control the vehicle and redirect it as they please, or they can even steal personal data saved in the car’s system.
Get legal help from an experienced lawyer!
Getting help from an experienced lawyer who is familiar with solving accident cases based on vehicles with advanced technology would be helpful in determining responsibility in the case.
