Apple is really getting to roll its iCar!

[Sad, little man]

Ok, here's how the legal logistics of self driving cars will work...

Automakers will wait to release autonomous cars to the public until they have it nailed down so well that they don't crash 99.9% of the time. (This will take a long time to get right, btw.) But, they will market them with the caveat that you still have to remain alert and ready to take over. You don't really have to though. There won't be any point to it. The car will be far better at avoiding obstacles than any human would be.

Automakers would never release a car that can supposedly be totally autonomous but require fairly frequent driver assistance because it would generate terrible press. The system would get lousy reviews because it wouldn't really work that well, and there would be a lot of accidents because people would not stay alert if they only have to drive the car maybe 5% of the time.

So, they will make a system that works nearly flawlessly, but they will still say that you need to stay alert and ready to take over. People won't. They will read books and use tablets while the car drives itself. Then, in those 0.01% cases where the car just can't avoid an accident, it will get in an accident, and automakers will be able to still pin it on the owner of the car, because they said up front that they should have stayed alert and ready to avoid an accident. Even though, again, the accidents wouldn't really have been able to be avoided by the driver anyway.

In this case, everyone wins. People get their self driving cars and they can just kick back and read a book, and automakers get to sell autonomous cars without the crippling legal liability that goes along with that technology. The only losers are the people in that 0.01% that get in accidents because their cars got into insurmountable situations. But, it will still be much safer overall than driving right now, so it will be a net positive. Sure, you might get in an accident that you had no chance to avoid, but that's really not much different from the same type of control you give up when you ride in a bus or an airplane.

[thesameguy]

.. except for if the plane or bus crashes, you can get restitution from the driver, pilot, or carrier. If your Google Car crashes, you'll have no recourse. That is the law they're trying to write.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Maybe autonomous cars shouldn't be sold direct to consumers. Taxi companies will own them just as airlines own the planes... and we the passengers are just along for the ride. Just dial a # or click on your app, iCar comes to your door at the appointed time to pick you up and drop you off wherever you want to go. We just have to pay the fare. If shit happens, it'd be similar deals as if you're involved in plane crashes...

It just doesn't make sense to hold ME responsible when my self driving car made a mistake. I don't want legal issues to cripple the industry, but it makes no sense to allow manufacturers to end up with zero responsibility either. So a buffer taxi company can perhaps be a good middle man?

[thesameguy]

It could very well turn out that way. I agree that crippling innovation with legal mumbo jumbo is not good, but the other side of that coin is crippling people with the pursuit of corporate profits. I don't like the way things are one iota, but it's clear that corporations do not put people first and the only real check left is the threat of legal action. Taking that away creates the potential for human beings to be guinea pigs in the beta testing of autonomous cars in a rush for profit instead of waiting and releasing a fully vetted product. It's a damned rough line to walk for sure.

[Dicknose]

Hmm would they be allowed to operate without a person.
I could see useful application being to drop you off at a location then go a park somewhere else.

Taxi or ride share style would also be good.

[thesameguy]

Audi boasts they can do that right now - but only on private property. You can summon your car with your phone and it will come pick you up at your door. I think for people with big properties no doubt!

[Crazed_Insanity]

Or people who live in cities and don't like to deal with parking. That would be a cool feature.

So when an empty iCar caused an accident, who'll be responsible for it?

Neat philosophical question?