Now that the State of California has approved a pilot program for driverless cars that will transport riders, you may have some big questions. You might wonder, although the program originated in the Bay Area when these vehicles will end up around Los Angeles as well? When can you anticipate driverless becoming the norm?
Of personal concern are any changes that might be in store for you as a driver sharing the road with an autonomous vehicle. Specifically, if you experience an accident with a vehicle guided by computers, will police assume you to be at fault? After all, computers are not supposed to make mistakes, are they?
Who is responsible if you collide with an autonomous vehicle?
There are several factors at play here for you to consider. Above all, you should know that nothing the state, autonomous driving companies or the firms that produce them can do can challenge or diminish your legal rights as a driver. Also, it is worth knowing that:
- The state has been supervising the testing of autonomous vehicles since 2014
- The state began testing totally driverless vehicles in 2018
- The state issues permit for producers of these vehicles and the companies that operate them
- The state records every driverless traffic incident of any kind
What happens if you have that one-in-a-million collision?
Should you collide with a driverless car, responsibility shifts to the software engineers and the vehicle designers that made the car. After all, a prime intention of autonomous vehicles is that they will make California highways safer.
