In March 2018, a pedestrian in Arizona was struck by a
self-driving Uber vehicle during a vehicle test. An Arizona
prosecutor recently found Uber not criminally liable for the
incident, though little detail was given for the decision (see our
blog post, here).
Once CAVs are on the roads and self-driving, liability is
expected to shift away from the driver towards the CAV itself.
Liability for accidents should, therefore, lie with manufacturers.
This article explores such manufacturers' liability for on-road
CAV accidents under the current Australian regime.
CAVs and the product liability regime
CAV-related liability will arise against a potentially complex
factual background involving a multi-part supply chain, the highly
technical interplay of parts and processes, varying states of
control between driver and vehicle and the likelihood of continuous
software updates to CAVs post-purchase. However, Australia's
existing product liability regime has proven to be
