Self-Driving Cars Maybe The Future, But Not There Yet.

There is not doubt that the future will have self-driving or autonomous cars.

Whether driver controlled vehicles are still on the roadways is yet to be seen.  I imagine self driving cars will still exist, people like to drive.  At this time there no  fully autonomous cars on the road.  (Volvo plans to release on in 2021) As it stands the “self-driving cars” on the road, still require human control or human standby.  Allot of new model vehicles have some driver assist systems, such as lane changing and radar cruise control.

But what about the Uber self driving vehicle and the fatal accident in Tempe?  The vehicle involved was a Volvo which had a built in collision avoidance and emergency braking system.  However, Uber for some reason, disabled this function when the Uber Volvo was in autonomous.  The Collision avoidance and emergency braking system would have likely stopped the vehicle and avoided the deadly collision.

The Uber Volvo involved is what is known as a level 3 automated driving system.  A level 3 vehicle can control all the functions of the vehicle, and human operation is not needed when the computer request the driver to intervene.  Two problems occurred here.  First, the computer failed to seek human intervention.  Second, the “driver” was watching the Voice  at the time and was not paying attention to the roadway in front of the vehicle.  At the end of the day while these vehicles maybe the future, there are still potential problems and failures that can occur.

If you or anyone you know may have been involved in an auto accident, whether a self driving car or a traditional car, before talking to any insurance company, you should contact a personal injury attorney who can advise you of your rights and remedies available.  As always be aware and drive safe.