Driverless car legislation to be introduced in South Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
What I would like to know, who is responsible when the car has an accident?
Driverless car legislation to be introduced in South Australia - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
What I would like to know, who is responsible when the car has an accident?
Probably legislation will be adapted as for speeding camera fines, the registered vehicle owner is liable unless they can reasonably show it's someone else's fault. In the same way land owners are liable if their animals wander onto the road and cause an incident, unless you can show that someone else was at fault for letting them out.
Hi,
I thought I read somewhere that Google were going to pay if it was a software fault that didn't cope with a situation that ended with a collision or an infringement.
Cheers
"An estimated 90 per cent of accidents are caused by driver error - a figure the industry hopes driverless cars could help reduce drastically thanks to more reliable and logical robotic thinking. More efficient traffic flows and economical driving would benefit the environment and bring down our stress levels as well."
Driverless cars: Are we ready? - E & T Magazine
Some of the technology, like telematics, has been around for over a decade. Telematics itself is a catch-all term for the converging of telecommunications technology with informatics. In recent times, this has led to a whole host of new developments, including parking sensors, GPS navigation, and automatic driver-assistance technology.
"So if we want to go driverless, we first have to tackle miles of red tape and legal issues. In its recent 'Pathway to Driverless Cars' report, the UK Government set out its ambition to make Britain a key territory for the development of driverless cars."
Yeh yeh, Adelaide is winning...
Food for thought.
Sometime in the future, you're in a driverless car. This car is not yours, it has no brake pedals, it has no steering wheel & you don't have a licence.
A child runs out into the path of the vehicle and an accident occurs.
Bear in mind you (being the only passenger) have no control over the vehicle.
I have not given details of the accident but assume an accident did occur.
Who is at fault? You, who has no control over the situation? The car manufacturer? The software developer? The local council?
All good questions and these are the questions that should be answered in law before the vehicles are allowed on the roads.
Ok. We will have 90% fewer accidents but the laws should be put in place for those 10%.
'Somewhere' (I have no idea where it actually was) I read a report by someone who travelled in a Google autonomous vehicle. He said that all the parameters for the vehicle's driving erred on the side of caution. If it thought there was a chance of colliding with something it stopped. At one stage it even detected movement through a hedge, that the passenger couldn't see, and so slowed the car. I wouldn't be surprised in the 'autonomous vehicle' future if there were less accidents. The car might just do a better job stopping to avoid a child than a person (distracted by radio/mobile phone/breakfast/alcohol/being a tosser).
So?in the above scenario, probably the child would be at fault. Or the parents for not supervising!
Easy it's the kids fault and the parents/ guardians bear the financial cost and the burden of death or injury.
It may upset the tech boffins but there is no future in our lifetime where driverless cars, pedestrians and manned cars, trucks, buses will function together in harmony.
Current technology is amazing but until it cant see the idiot behind the wheel and decide that they are not paying attention and delay a manouevre ( roundabouts, turns, overtaking) they will need to be segregated until such time as manned vehicles are gone.
No matter how good the driver or the technology, random behaviors are more then the capability of the equipment ( vehicle, electronics, brakes. human physical limitations)can handle.
I could not begin to count the number of times I have remained alive on my bike from paying attention to other drivers first and not completely taken by surprise at their actions.
Valid points Mick.
Nothing is 100% safe, eventually with all progress some residual risk is accepted and efforts continue to reduce that further. Safety in transport is a continuing goal for good reason, from seat belts to air bags to collision avoidance systems & vehicle stability control, this is just another 'addition' to safety on the roads rather than a new hazard...in my view
While it is untested in the real world with conventional traffic and you raise a real possibility of a child entering the road, there are obvious advantages compared to the reaction times of elderly/visually impaired/inexperienced/intoxicated vehicle operators that are a positive.
Not being a lawyer myself, surely the responsibilities have already been determined (as a trial is scheduled), perhaps in the realm of the third party insurance we all pay, not sure but if I come across it then I'll post it.
As for an unlicensed driver and no brake pedal, I'm not sure the first would be allowed as there would need to be a default manual option to select and deselect autonomous mode requiring at least similar licensing to that we currently have. No brake pedal - again I haven't seen the 'actual' vehicle, but if you're correct, then similar to a train I suppose a 'dead man switch' or similar 'failsafe' device could work, there would have to be an emergency override before I took control of one
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