BLOG

Since several companies have begun to launch their driverless cars or robot cars there have been concerns on who should be held responsible when a driverless car crashes into another car and kills or injures someone. Of course robots are not a legal entity.

What raised this concern is the fact some of the driverless cars have already been involved in accidents. About 13 of Google’s robot cars have been involved in an accident. The figure will definitely increase as more robot cars hit the road.

Should the owner of the car be held responsible? The civil justice system is being enjoined to come up with newer and more applicable safety rules and regulations that will address the safety risk posed by robot cars. This should be done as soon as possible since technology is changing so rapidly.

It is being suggested that manufacturers should be held responsible when their robot car crashes. In reaction to that, manufacturers came up with a claim that most of the car crashes in question were caused by human error. In fact, they said 90 percent of the crashes were caused by human error. It is this human error that they are trying to eliminate by producing these cars. As more of them hit the road, the number of conventional vehicles will begin to reduce gradually. When human drivers reduce, the human errors will also reduce and the number of road will be reduced too.

Since this topic is still being debated, what happens if a driverless car runs into you? Your best bet is to hire the services of a personal injury attorney. This is because the other party will not go down without a fight. For now, no law makes manufacturers responsible for the crash their cars and no law absolves them of responsibility either. It now becomes a battle between your personal injury attorney and their legal representatives.

Defending yourself in such a case is like bringing a knife to a gun fight. You stand no chance at all. Remember, the defendants must have hired their lawyer already. There are other reasons you should hire an attorney.

Your lawyer will vet your statement and simulate a cross-examination for you on the likely questions you will be asked in court. Based on your response, he will help you to rewrite your statement and also guide you on how to answer each question so that the judge does not pick holes in your statement and response.

If the need arises, he might have to visit the accident scene to gather some documentary evidence and also interview some key witnesses, if any. The fact that you only pay him if you win the case makes him a stakeholder in your case. So, you can be sure of his best.