Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been in the news often in the past year, as ChatGPT and other large language model-based chatbots and generators have captured our collective imagination. In the auto world, AI and automation have already been part of the conversation, as car manufacturers have been working on self-driving vehicles.
The problem is that the adoption of fully automated cars hasn’t happened as quickly as many people thought. In fact, some experts are now claiming that self-driving technology can pose a risk, with a number of legal claims and lawsuits involving injuries and fatalities caused by the technology.
Will AI Contribute to or Prevent Car Accidents?
In preventing car accidents, AI can have some exciting applications. AI technologies can help researchers review much more data than any human team, which could potentially help experts develop:
- Better ideas for car safety features.
- A better understanding of what causes car accidents and how to prevent them.
- A fuller understanding of current collision data.
At the same time, driverless cars from two companies have been found to have about 102 collisions over a five year period, according to an article by Ars Technica. This is about one accident for 60,000 miles driven, a better record than human drivers.
While a number of injured drivers and pedestrians have sued the manufacturers of driverless cars, the safety record of autonomous driving vehicles seems better than that of humans, though researchers think that more studies are needed to get accurate data.
What Does AI Mean If I’m in a Car Accident in Miami?
If you find yourself in a collision with a driverless car, you may have a claim if the manufacturer was negligent in designing and testing their car features. Today, many cars also have assistive features. If the car that hit you caused the accident because these features were not safe, you may also have a claim against the manufacturer.
Being in a crash with a driverless vehicle can add a layer of stress to your collision. The liability in these cases is complex, for example, and there may be multiple liable parties:
- The driver. Even with an autonomous car, if the driver was negligent and caused the accident, he or she can be held liable. For example, if the driver fails to pay attention to road conditions, overrides safety features, or uses the car in driverless mode on city streets when the manufacturer warns against this, the driver can be accountable for the accident.
- The manufacturer. If a manufacturer designed or made the car with a safety flaw that caused the accident, the company can be held liable.
- The software developer. The software that runs driverless cars is often developed by a company other than the car manufacturer. If a bug or bad coding in the software caused your cash, the developer can be liable.
Besides liability issues, just being in a collision with a driverless vehicle can be stressful because of the questions that can arise. How can you exchange contact and insurance information with the other driver if there is no driver in an autonomous vehicle? How can you hold large and powerful manufacturers liable if their designs caused your injuries?
It’s important to note that you have the same obligations in a car accident, whether the other car is autonomous or not. You need to stop if there is a crash, offer assistance to anyone who is injured, and exchange insurance information. If the other vehicle is acting in an unusual manner that could harm someone else or if you’re not sure how to get insurance information, call local authorities for help.
You’ll also want to contact an experienced car accident attorney because of the liability concerns in these crashes. For example, you can always reach out to Flaxman Law Group. 24/7, at 866-352-9626 to schedule a free accident consultation with a Florida car accident claims attorney.