Testing of driverless cars now legal in MI and guess what?

[Bud]

According to this report.

 

"the law also protects original manufacturers from civil liability for damages caused by modified driverless vehicles, unless the defect from which the damages resulted was present in the vehicle when it was manufactured."

 

That's right folks, the driverless car software malfunctions, the car hits you and you are SOL when trying to hold them liable.

 

 

[MT Wallet]

Oh great, now I have to worry about driverless cars in addition to distracted drivers. Golly, that's almost the same thing.

[lkraus]

There may be problems with this law and driverless cars in general, but the quoted statement seems reasonable. It says the manufacturer is not liable for modified vehicles, but is liable for original defects. I would expect that to be true for human-driven cars, as well.

 

[lkraus]

According to this report.

 

"the law also protects original manufacturers from civil liability for damages caused by modified driverless vehicles, unless the defect from which the damages resulted was present in the vehicle when it was manufactured."

 

There may be problems with this law and driverless cars in general, but on the surface, the quoted statement seems reasonable. The key word here is modified.

 

It appears the law was intended to relieve the automakers from liability for modifications made by an aftermarket company (an "upfitter")to make a car driverless.

 

If Robotcar Company modifies a Ford to be driverless, Ford should not be responsible for damages caused by the modifications.

If Ford uses a wheel bearing design that causes a wheel to seize, causing an accident, Ford is still responsible.

If Robotcar bases their software on Windows and the software freezes while merging into rush hour traffic, Robotcar will need to pick up the bill.

If Ford makes a driverless car, damages caused by defects are present from the manufacture date, so those are all on Ford.

 

I think the law intends to clarify who is responsible for which parts of a modified car and hopefully reduce the need for litigation when driverless accidents occur.

[upflying]

Most of the cars on the road today are driverless cars where the occupants scream "it ain't my fault" when they crash.