Self-driving cars have transitioned from science fiction to reality. They’re becoming a reality on our roads, including here in Tulsa. At Graves McLain Injury Lawyers, we’re keeping a close eye on this new technology.
Self-driving cars could make our streets safer by reducing human errors that cause most accidents. But they also raise new questions about who’s responsible when crashes happen. Is it the person in the car, the company that made it, or someone else?
This article will explain what you need to know about self-driving cars and what happens if they’re in an accident. We’ll examine how current laws might change and what this means for drivers and carmakers alike.
Where We Are Now with Self-Driving Cars
Self-driving car technology has come a long way but is still a work in progress. Experts use a scale from 0 to 5 to describe how advanced a car’s self-driving features are:
- Level 0: No self-driving features at all.
- Level 1-2: The car can do some things independently, like keep its lane or adjust speed, but the driver needs to stay alert and in control.
- Level 3: The car can drive itself in some situations, but the driver needs to be ready to take over.
- Level 4-5: The car can handle most or all driving situations independently.
Most cars on Tulsa’s roads are currently at Level 1 or 2. You might have features like cruise control that adjusts to traffic or warnings if you drift out of your lane. Some newer cars are reaching Level 3, but fully self-driving cars (Level 4 or 5) are still being tested and unavailable to buy.
In Oklahoma, we’re seeing more cars with these advanced features. While fully self-driving cars aren’t standard yet, Tulsa residents must understand what’s coming and how it might affect us.
How Self-Driving Cars Could Help Us
Self-driving cars could bring several significant benefits:
- Safer Roads: Most car accidents happen because of human mistakes. Self-driving cars don’t get distracted or tired, so they could help prevent many crashes. This could mean fewer injuries and deaths on busy Tulsa roads like I-44 or US-75.
- More Independence: Self-driving cars could help people who can’t drive themselves, like elderly folks or people with disabilities. This is especially important in Tulsa, where there are fewer public transportation options than in bigger cities.
- Less Traffic: Self-driving cars and traffic systems could talk to each other. This might help reduce traffic jams, which could be great for busy areas like downtown Tulsa or the Broken Arrow Expressway.
- Cleaner Air: If self-driving cars are electric and drive more efficiently, they could help reduce pollution. This could mean cleaner air for everyone in the Tulsa area.
- New Jobs: As the self-driving car industry grows, new jobs in technology and related fields could be created. This could be good news for Tulsa’s growing tech sector.
While self-driving cars promise numerous advantages, we must also consider the potential downsides, such as job losses in transportation industries and increased cybersecurity risks.
Challenges and Risks with Self-Driving Cars
While self-driving cars have potential benefits, they also come with some problems:
- Technology Limits: Current self-driving systems can have trouble with unexpected situations or bad weather. This could be a genuine concern in Tulsa, where we get everything from heavy thunderstorms to the occasional winter storm.
- Hacking Risks: Self-driving cars rely on computer systems, which could be hacked. This risk isn’t just for individual cars but could affect entire transportation networks.
- Job Changes: If self-driving cars become common, it could mean fewer jobs for truck drivers, taxi drivers, and others. This could affect Tulsa’s economy, where many people work in transportation.
- New Road Requirements: Self-driving cars might need special road markings or communication systems. Updating roads across Tulsa and Oklahoma for this could be expensive and take a long time.
- Tough Decisions: A self-driving car might have to choose between two bad outcomes in an unavoidable accident. How do we program cars to make these kinds of difficult decisions?
- Getting People to Trust Them: For self-driving cars to catch on, people need to trust them. If there are high-profile accidents involving self-driving cars, it could make people hesitant to use them.
Understanding these challenges is essential as we consider the legal and ethical questions surrounding self-driving cars.
Who’s Responsible for a Self-Driving Car Accident?
Figuring out who’s responsible for a self-driving car accident is tricky. We usually look at which driver was at fault in regular car accidents. But with self-driving cars, it’s not that simple:
- Car Makers: If the accident happens because of a problem with the car’s design or construction, the company that made the car might be responsible. This could include issues with the car’s hardware or software.
- Software Developers: If the accident is caused by a flaw in the car’s operating system or decision-making software, the company that created the software might be held responsible.
- Car Owners: Car owners might still be partly responsible even with self-driving technology. For example, they must keep the car’s systems updated or adequately maintained.
- Road Maintenance: If the accident is caused by a problem with unique road systems for self-driving cars, whoever is in charge of maintaining those systems could be responsible.
- Shared Responsibility: Depending on what happened in the accident, responsibility might be shared among several parties in many cases.
Our current laws in Tulsa and across Oklahoma should have been written with self-driving cars in mind. At Graves McLain Injury Lawyers, we expect that new laws and court decisions will help clarify these issues as self-driving cars become more common.
Laws and Regulations for Self-Driving Cars
The laws and regulations for self-driving cars are still being figured out:
- Federal Rules: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has given some guidelines for developing and testing self-driving cars, but we’re still waiting on comprehensive federal laws.
- State Laws: Because federal legislation has yet to be passed, many states have made laws about self-driving cars. Oklahoma allows testing and using self-driving cars on public roads if they meet specific safety and insurance requirements.
- Insurance Changes: Insurance companies are trying to figure out how to handle policies for self-driving cars. Some are considering models that assign more responsibility to car manufacturers instead of individual owners.
- Data Privacy: Self-driving cars collect a lot of data. Questions arise about who owns this data and how it can be used, especially in accident investigations or court cases.
- Product Liability: Existing laws about defective products might need to change to accommodate self-driving car technology. This could affect how self-driving car accident cases are handled in Tulsa courts.
- Crossing Borders: Laws must work together as self-driving cars travel between states and countries. This could affect trips from Tulsa to neighboring states.
At Graves McLain Injury Lawyers, we’re monitoring these legal changes closely. We want to ensure that we can provide the best help possible to our clients as self-driving car technology continues to develop.
If you have been in a car accident involving driverless technology, schedule a free consultation with Graves McLain Injury Lawyers today!
