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Autonomous vehicles
TechBig Tech

Self-driving cars pose crucial question: who to blame in a crash

  • Who is liable when a fully self-driving car hits another vehicle or a pedestrian remains a complex question for both carmakers and tech firms
  • Despite the intense debate over legal issues, self-driving cars have the potential to drastically reduce the number of car crashes and deaths on roads

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Panasonic Corp's SPACe_L autonomous car concept is displayed at the Tokyo Motor Show on October 24, 2019. Advances in selling self-driving cars to the broader consumer market are being held back by liability issues. Photo: Kyodo
Bloomberg
A debate over who to blame – or sue – when a self-driving car hits someone is holding up legislation the industry says it needs to advance.

“If another driver hits you, it’s clear who the driver is,” said Sarah Rooney, senior director of federal and regulatory affairs for the American Association for Justice. “It’s the human being.”

Not so when a fully self-driving car hits another vehicle or a pedestrian. Then the fault may lie with the manufacturer and the software, or with the owner if updates have not been properly installed. If the manufacturer is as fault, a victim may seek to sue under product liability standards, as with a conventional car.

The vehicles are still in the beta stage, but the issues have held up legislation that would allow carmakers to test and sell tens of thousands of autonomous vehicles – something the industry has said it needs to fully develop and eventually market the technology to consumers. A bill to do that sailed through the US House of Representatives several years ago, but has been bogged down in the Senate over the liability question.
US National Transportation Safety Board investigators examine a self-driving Uber Technologies vehicle involved in a fatal accident in Tempe, Arizona, on March 20, 2018. Photo: Reuters
US National Transportation Safety Board investigators examine a self-driving Uber Technologies vehicle involved in a fatal accident in Tempe, Arizona, on March 20, 2018. Photo: Reuters

A move to merge the bill with must-pass legislation earlier this month faltered over an initiative by some manufacturers to include language that would prevent consumers from suing or forming class-action cases. Instead, the consumers would have to submit disputes to binding arbitration, something that is common with technology products but not automobiles.

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