"University of South Carolina law professor Bryant Walker Smith pointed out that the technology has the potential to reduce incidents of certain types of accidents by 95 percent while potentially increasing manufacturer liability exposure in the remaining 5 percent. He discussed two risk elements to consider when predicting future liability: exposure and uncertainty. For example, in most T-bone wrecks today, the blame goes to the driver who ignored the traffic signal. If the innocent victim’s vehicle is automated, however, its driver might come after the manufacturer for not having foreseen and avoided the accident. The uncertainty comes in predicting how judges and juries will rule in such cases, as well as in trickier cases where the car must choose between targets. (Hit the nun or the 5-year-old?) Of course, auto insurance is currently a $200 billion a year business, but with 95 percent of the wrecks being prevented, might insurers shift their focus to covering manufacturers against litigation in the remaining 5 percent?"
- Date Published:11/18/2014
- Original Publication:Motor Trend