Stanford CIS

'Uber should be shut down': friends of self-driving car crash victim seek justice

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"If her family were to pursue a civil case, attorneys could potentially make a range of negligence claims, said Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina and a legal expert on autonomous cars.

Depending on what might have gone wrong, the victim’s family could argue that a number of players were liable, including the car maker, the operator behind the wheel, the manufacturers of various specific technologies, and Uber itself, he said.

“The attorney would want to say to a hypothetical jury, ‘These are really scary systems. They demand the utmost care and responsibility.’ And the lawyer would suggest that’s not the case here,” said Smith.

Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor and self-driving expert, predicted the company would try to resolve any case quickly and privately: “Uber will settle this immediately for an undisclosed amount of money.”"

Published in: Press , self-driving cars , Uber , Robotics