September 12th, 2013
Megan McArdle unpacks what has always seemed to me the fatal flaw in driverless cars: liability.
If a driverless car is involved in an accident, it will be the corporate entity behind the car, not the end user, who is legally liable. Which is a giant problem–there’s just no way that either tech companies or auto manufacturers need that exposure.
There are only two solutions: (1) Change the legal system–which is McArdle’s suggestion. (2) Insulate the corporations by passing liability on to drivers–which would mean requiring them to be alert and paying attention at all times. Which would render “driverless-ness” not really much more helpful than cruise control.
Neither solution seems likely to make driverless cars a reality, at least in the U.S.
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People were making exactly the same point — that the notion of corporate liability would obstruct the development of driverless automobiles — over 40 years ago.
Of course, 40 years ago the notion was that a combination of radar and radio control would permit traffic at speeds in excess of 100 mph. The idea now is of autonomous computer-controlled cars moving at under 65 mph. I suppose this is progress.
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What’s the most isolated place in the U.S.? Area 51? Niihau in Hawaii? Google should pay to equip a place like that with 100% driverless cars to see what happens when human drivers aren’t around to get out of the way of robots.
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Holy crap.
I am very surprised folks would give up their freedom this easily.
http://nypost.com/2012/03/09/the-real-trouble-with-robot-cars/
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Per Walter Russell Mead we will all soon be moving back to farms anyway, right
Dan September 15, 2013 at 3:55 pm
You would think this is only a huge hurdle if driverless cars are in accidents at similar rates to human-driven cars. Otherwise, the solution seems to be to charge “licensing fees” (or call them whatever) that replaces insurance and covers the corporations’ liability costs. The fees could even go down if the cars prove a lot safer. If you’re smart enough to make the things, you should be smart enough to find a workaround for this (and maybe even make money off of the perceived problem).