A recent article on TheState.com reports the following news about self-driving cars:
- Self-steering cars will be on the market by the end of 2013.
- Self-parking cars will be available soon after.
- Fully automatic cars, which require no human driver, are less than 10 years away from dealerships.
Sounds like science fiction, doesn’t it—just jump into your car, program your destination, then kick back and read the newspaper while your car drives you to work in Louisville.
Complications
Trying to figure out how to modify laws and regulations to make them relevant to driverless cars seems to be complicated—and could be the reason that only three states have approved road testing of the cars and started modifying regulations.
As the article pointed out, a number of sticky situations have to be clarified, including the following:
- What kind of training and licensing would be required to operate a driverless car?
- If the car crashes, who is liable, the operator or the car manufacturer?
- Will the car’s operator be completely free from paying attention to the car’s operation—will he or she be able to sleep, read, text, or have a beer?
- Will the computer systems that run the vehicles be vulnerable to hackers?
For the moment, we are all responsible for our driving. Until significant changes occur, if someone injures you or someone you love in a Kentucky car crash, contact a Louisville auto accident lawyer. Call Gray and White Law at 502-210-8942 or toll free at 888-450-4456 to set up a FREE, no-obligation consultation.