Self-Driving Cars Are Here…

How will they “impact” accident rates and personal injury law?

Luxury vehicles, such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi, offer drivers the best in mechanics, technology, and equipment. But soon drivers of high-end vehicles may not be required to drive at all. Mercedes and Lexus have recently joined Audi in testing self-driving cars (SDCs) on public roads in the United States.

So far, Florida, Nevada, and California are among the states issuing permits for automakers to test SDCs. Audi says it’s already conducted thousands of miles of self-driving car research on European and U.S. roads. (They also claim to be the first carmaker to obtain a license for a self-driving car, in Nevada, in 2012.) Still, there are a range of autonomous driving issues that Audi is working on in its research, including whether the human or the car is (or should be) handling the driving functions.

According to IHS Automotive, SDCs that include driver control are expected to hit highways around the globe before 2025, and self-driving “only” cars are anticipated around 2030. Proponents of SDCs say autonomous vehicles will bring several benefits to society, drivers, and pedestrians:

“Accident rates will plunge to near zero for SDCs, although other cars will crash into SDCs, but as the [number] of SDCs on the highway grows, overall accident rates will decline steadily. Traffic congestion and air pollution per car should also decline because SDCs can be programmed to be more efficient in their driving patterns.”

If you drive a luxury vehicle, SDC technology is likely already affecting your car’s driver assist system. Features like adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, and collision mitigating brakes are all elements of the autonomous driving experience, which help avoid accidents.

But even if SDCs are safer than traditional vehicles, some will still be involved in car accidents, and some may even cause or contribute to accidents. When that happens, who should be liable for resulting damages and injuries—the carmaker, the car itself, or the “driver”? If the predictions made by the automotive industry are correct, personal injury law will have to start answering this question in about 10 years.