As a trial lawyer who handles a lot of automotive disputes and
product liability claims, I get asked more and more, "when an
autonomous vehicle has an accident, who will be liable?"
People – clients, contacts, business associates, partners,
friends, etc. all wonder whether the legal system is ready to handle this
eventuality. With Google's self-driving car having suffered an
accident recently, these questions are more frequent then ever.
While Google allowed that "we clearly bear some responsibility", the
word that struck me was "some." Google plainly felt that
the bus driver was partially responsible as well.
The simple fact of the matter is that these accidents are most
likely to be treated no different than accidents that involve two
drivers. Your vehicle already has a host of automated features that
run on some combination of hardware, software and/or mechanical
connections. Your adaptive cruise control. Your lane departure
warning. Your automatic breaking. All of
