How Will Self Driving Cars Affect Personal Injury Law?

Self-driving vehicles continue to gain market share. Also called autonomous vehicles, these cars come in different shapes and sizes. Some vehicles have self-driving features, even though they require a motorist in the driver’s seat to make certain inputs. Many vehicles today already have autonomous features, such as cruise control or collision avoidance systems which will automatically stop a vehicle. 

Other autonomous vehicles are truly self-driving—any passenger can sit in the back and relax, and the vehicle will handle all the work up front. No one needs to be seated near the steering wheel at all. Although truly autonomous vehicles haven’t enjoyed widespread adoption, some experts think they’ll become more popular soon. 

But what happens if one of these vehicles causes an accident? For example, a self-driving vehicle might back out of a parking spot and collide with a pedestrian, or the vehicle could fail to stop at an intersection, leading to a wreck. In situations like these, injured victims will have significant medical expenses, and they want to know who they can hold accountable. 

Below, our Aiken, SC personal injury lawyer looks at how car accident cases are currently analyzed under the law. We then consider who can be held responsible for an accident involving an autonomous vehicle. Contact us to schedule a free consultation for advice tailored to your case. 

The Law Today: Responsibility for Car Accidents in South Carolina 

South Carolina uses fault rules to analyze car accidents. Under the current legal standard, a motorist is at fault if they were negligent in how they drove. Common examples of negligence are: 

• Distracted driving 

• Driving while fatigued 

• Chemical impairment 

• Tailgating 

• Speeding 

• Making an illegal turn or lane change 

• Failing to use mirrors 

When a motorist is at fault, their insurance should pay compensation to injured victims. Fault can be shared between drivers. Nonetheless, you can’t force anyone to pay you compensation unless they have at least 50% responsibility for a crash. 

Shouldn’t Self-Driving Vehicles Get into Fewer Accidents? 

You might think. This is one of the reasons for adopting self-driving technology. Human error—like the mistakes mentioned above—lead to many accidents. By programming a vehicle to drive itself, you should be able to eliminate the risk of human errors. 

Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned. Self-driving vehicles have been involved in many crashes. According to NPR, vehicles with at least partially automated systems were involved in nearly 400 accidents in 2022. Some accidents were dramatic, with six seriously injured drivers and five fatalities. These numbers included vehicles which were fully autonomous, as well as those with driver assist technology. 

Ultimately, injured victims probably don’t care whether the vehicle has a driver or not. They simply need compensation for bodily injuries and pain. 

How Will Courts Analyze Accidents Involving Self-Driving Vehicles? 

This is a major question. Because there is no driver, some people are confused about who will have legal liability for an accident. We think South Carolina will continue to use fault principles. 

Sometimes, motorists will still be at fault. For example, some self-driving cars require driver supervision. That means someone should be in the driver’s seat to take control of the vehicle, if necessary. A driver who is distracted or asleep is obviously negligent because they aren’t supervising the vehicle. These cases will be analyzed remarkably similar to typical car accidents. We’ll consider what a reasonably careful driver should have done, and then compare the defendant’s actions to this standard. 

In other situations, the car’s owner will be responsible for the accident. This makes sense. South Carolina will not leave accident victims to fend for themselves without compensation. Instead, the car’s owner should be on the hook for compensation. That will probably be the rule if the vehicle is truly autonomous—meaning, no driver behind the wheel. 

In still other cases, accident victims might have a legal claim against the manufacturer, if they can show the vehicle had a defect which contributed to the accident. There could be something wrong with the way the computer software processes data or problems with the sensors which detect other cars and pedestrians. Ultimately, your attorney will need to determine whether to seek compensation against the car manufacturer or the maker of the defective component. 

Self-driving cars are changing product liability law because of the sophistication of the software used in the cars. Your attorney will need to work with an experienced product engineer to identify flaws in the vehicle. 

Evidence and Self-Driving Accidents 

A car accident case involving an autonomous vehicle might have some differences from regular car accidents today. For example, the vehicle should have much more data, since it is essentially being run by a computer. Your personal injury lawyer should understand the value of this evidence, which might help show the system malfunctioned—or at least didn’t operate as expected. 

Additional evidence will involve the cost of repairs. These vehicles can be much more expensive to fix following a wreck than standard vehicles. The owner might need to update or replace software, and finding parts can be a challenge. 

Nonetheless, many accidents will rely on familiar evidence, such as witness testimony. Witnesses can offer their perspective on what happened. That will help us pin the blame on the autonomous vehicle and possibly the person who owns the car. 

Speak with a Personal Injury Lawyer in South Carolina

Self-driving vehicles have the potential to improve public safety and reduce the number of accidents. Technology is always improving, and we expect the number of accidents to fall in the coming years. The technology is even spreading to the trucking industry, with self-driving big rigs already on the road in some places. 

If you were involved in a collision with a self-driving car, then please call Surasky Law Firm. We have the skills necessary to represent you in this emerging legal field. Key questions regarding legal liability and damages will need to be sorted out in the coming decade, and we are well-positioned to help anyone seeking financial compensation in a settlement.