The manufacturers of driverless cars created and developed new technologies for the same reason all new technologies appear every day: to make the world a better place to live in.
It's true that most of these technologies are still being improved, exactly to make these types of vehicles more reliable and probably it will take some time until they will be completely risk-free.
Also, the life of disabled persons can be quite improved, as well as people's lives in general, through the fact that owning such a vehicle one might focus on other activities while being automatically driven to the desired destination.
Do Self-Driving Cars in Miami Represent a Must for Improving Traffic Safety?
Driverless cars are indeed necessary for drastically decreasing the number of accidents with which the world is currently confronting. Practically, a series of causes are being eliminated, causes that are momentary based on human errors, such as alcoholism, talking on the phone, reckless driving or all sorts of distractions.
In 2011, Google was announcing that it developed a car without steering wheel, accelerator and brake pedal and in the same time running several tests on cars equipped with this kind of technology, concluding that the number of total accidents would decrease. A new report is also speaking about the impact that self-driving vehicles have on fatal traffic accidents, basically reducing deaths by 90 percent.
In What Kind of Situations Do Driverless Cars Become a Danger?
Though they may seem safer than classic cars, self-driving cars can too represent a danger, and this danger can come from many directions:
- Sensitive to both mechanical and soft errors
- Not equipped for all kinds of weather conditions, for example, a storm can damage the sensors placed on the car's roof
- Prone to hacks. One of the first researchers who showed how easy it is to hack a driverless car was Jonathan Petit. He managed to trick a sensor into thinking an object was there, although it was not. Carmakers have thus to ensure that hackers can not do any damage to the cars.
- In the present, models are not suitable for handling roadblocks, routes not included in a GPS System, the knowledge of going slowly in the rain or giving motorcycles more space.
In 2016, one of Google's autonomous cars hit a truck, an accident who left no victims, but which made a lot of people wonder who is responsible when such situations occur?
Who Is Responsible in Case of a Car Accident in Miami?
Unless if other human drivers at the cause of a driverless car getting into an accident, we can assume that the manufacturer or developer of a program of the driverless car can be, naturally, to blame.
Many voices say that the manufacturers of self-driving cars should be held responsible when the products or technology they develop are at-fault in causing accidents that injure or even kill people and, with time, many companies such as Volvo, Tesla, Google or Mercedes began to support this position. Volvo, for example, one of the many automakers eager to launch a driverless vehicle, decided that they will take full responsibility for the accidents caused by one of their autonomous cars.
Anders Karrberg, Senior Vice President Corporate Communications for Volvo Car Group, declared that if a problem appears to the driving system when operating autonomously, the company would take the product liability.
But what about the other companies that didn't yet make a statement?
Contact Sean M. Cleary, Miami Car Accident Attorney
We have a thorough knowledge of car accident law, and we have been able to help people that were hurt in car accidents in Miami under all sorts of circumstances gain compensation. Call 305.416.9805 for a free case evaluation to find out how The Law Offices of Sean M. Cleary can assist you.