Driverless Car Accidents: How Do You Sue?

Driverless Car Accidents: How Do You Sue?

Driverless cars are not limited to sci-fi movies anymore. Autonomous technology is an emerging market in real life as 19 companies are competing to put driverless car on the road by 2020, including the likes of tech giants such as Google and Tesla among many global car manufacturing companies. In light of huge investments and successful trials of self-operating cars in recent times, it is imminent that these cars will be on roads of Illinois in near future. A driverless car may be considered a safe option for driving and could potentially eliminate many causes of auto accidents pertaining to human drivers such as DUI, distracted driving, reckless driving, to name a few.

However, driverless cars are still prone to accidents, which is evident from the incident in Arizona where a self-driving Uber killed a woman in a fatal crash. This accident raises some extremely important questions such as: if you are involved in a car accident with a driverless car, which party can be held liable and how can you establish a liability in order to obtain compensation for your injuries?

Which Party Can be Held Liable?

In an autonomous car, there is no human behind the steering wheel. However, that does not mean that you cannot sue anyone for your damages. As a matter of fact, auto accidents resulted due to self-driving cars contain a bottomless list of defendants.

Firstly, the manufacturer who designed the software being used in the vehicle accident comes under investigation. The software is analyzed to find out defects, design errors, and programming efficiency. Moreover, it is assessed whether the company knowingly implemented autonomous technology despite the chances of errors. Secondly, if an accident is caused due to a defective piece of equipment, then the company who manufactured that equipment can also be added to the list of defendants. If a court is unable to determine which company was negligent, then both of the companies may be held liable for any damages caused by a driverless car. Finally, a car owner can also be held liable provided that they did not update the software or properly maintain their vehicle, which ultimately led to the accident.

How can an Auto Accident Lawyer Help You Establish Liability?

Autonomous vehicles are equipped with a range of sensors and cameras, which track, record, monitor, and measure surroundings. Information stored in the system by these sensors can be used in order to establish a liability. However, an average citizen may not be able to extract that information. Therefore, if you are involved in an unfortunate car accident caused due to a driverless car, it can be beneficial to acquire services of a professional auto accident lawyer. A competent and experienced attorney can assist in retrieving sensor data, which can be used to reconstruct the scene of the incident. This will strengthen your case and help you obtain maximum compensation for damages caused due to the accident.

If you wish to find out more about this topic or schedule a free consultation, contact the offices of Robert Edens at (847) 395-2200 to speak with an experienced auto accident lawyer.