Legal Issues Raised by the Driverless Vehicle Revolution: Part 1 -
Fueled by the high-profile efforts of technology giants like Google, major manufacturers like General Motors and Tesla, and new auto industry entrants like Uber and Apple, the driverless car revolution is here. Tomorrow’s self-driving cars will rely on a combination of familiar driver-assist features coupled with newly developed computer hardware and software, working together to make driving decisions based on input from sensors, cameras, and the surrounding environment. In much the same way, the legal issues related to autonomous vehicles will be addressed using a combination of existing law and new legislation. This article explores the steady climb of vehicle automation, the road that lies ahead, and an overview of the patent landscape impacted by this autonomous vehicle revolution. Part 2 will focus on safety regulations, product liability, data security, and other areas.
The Technology -
Driverless v. Driver-Assisted Cars. There are two schools of thought behind the autonomous vehicle revolution. The first school—led by Google and Uber—maintains that truly autonomous vehicles cannot be achieved incrementally; instead, full automation is necessary. Human drivers in less-than-fully autonomous cars must constantly pay attention to be able to address sudden and unexpected situations—the very situations that easily distracted human drivers are ill-suited to handle. According to this view, the more control given to the computer, the less a human has to contribute, and the safer the car becomes.
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