Driverless Cars

"Bryant Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina who studies self-driving car regulation, called the bills “a mixed bag.”

“Critically, they are in desperate need of clarification followed by thoughtful discussion,” he said.

Walker Smith said the bills do a good job of allowing autonomous vehicles on the road, but much of the language becomes confusing and difficult to differentiate from current laws. Read more about Driverless car bills speed through Michigan Senate

""Liability is a poorly understood word," said Bryant Walker Smith, one of the leading experts in the legal aspects of autonomous driving. "It can refer to criminal liability (who is convicted of a felony or misdemeanor), quasi-criminal liability (who gets the speeding ticket), and civil liability (who has to pay for the harm they caused to someone else). In addition, only rarely are any of these forms of liability binary: Just because one actor is liable doesn't mean that another actor isn't."" Read more about When your driverless car crashes, who will be responsible? The answer remains unclear

"By using human backup drivers, Uber is basically testing the technology and taking people along for the ride, said Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina professor who studies self-driving technology.

"Part of this is marketing in the sense that they're going to be doing continued research and development of these systems," he said."

  Read more about Uber's big test in the steel city

"The courtroom, however, is different from the court of public opinion, said Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant professor of law and engineering at the University of South Carolina, who studies self-driving vehicles.

"Summaries and spin will be much less credible than analysis supported by raw data that others can evaluate," he said." Read more about Tesla's data collection may help it deflect Autopilot liability