Friday, February 1, 2013

Google Driverless Car on Car Accident Liability Issue

For years, Google has been working hard to fully develop its driverless car which is designed to reduce traffic mishaps. Also, it is expected to ease traffic congestion through as it promotes more consistent driving. In fact, Google pledged that its driverless cars are the future of the automobile industry.

Consequently, several states have already stepped forward to pave way to the autonomous vehicle.

However, before the self-driving car totally become a reality, issues regarding who will be at fault in case of car accident is currently creating a stir.

In some states like California and Florida, since they were the first states to welcome the driverless cars in their roadways, they have already passed a bill that would require the Registries of Motor Vehicles to provide traffic rules for the self-driving vehicles over the next one to two years.

Unfortunately for the car manufacturers, they do not have any idea what those rules would be, which in turn could lead them to a pause from developing the vehicles. Most probably, if the automakers believe that they could be held liable for the autonomous car accidents, then they may hesitate in manufacturing the vehicles, regardless of safety records for prototype vehicles.

So far, due to the bright future eyed by the automakers behind the driverless cars, they were said to have cashed out a considerable amount of money to fight against possible liability laws.

It could be remembered that way back in 2010, Google’s car have been involved in a minor accident after it was rear-ended by another vehicle. Also, in the following year, another Google car caused a multiple car pile-up. However, investigation result subsequently proved that the two incidents were caused by human error. The first incident was caused by the driver of the other car that rear-ended the autonomous vehicle while in the second incident, Google car was manually driven by a human driver.

Apparently, it only shows that in any type of vehicles, accidents are likely to occur. Therefore, there is indeed a need for a customized traffic laws for the autonomous vehicles of the future, agreed by a personal injury lawyer in Los Angeles.