Reuters:
U.S. vehicle safety regulators have said the artificial intelligence system piloting a self-driving Google car could be considered the driver under federal law, a major step toward ultimately winning approval for autonomous vehicles on the roads.
And:
“NHTSA will interpret ‘driver’ in the context of Google’s described motor vehicle design as referring to the (self-driving system), and not to any of the vehicle occupants,” NHTSA’s letter said.
“We agree with Google its (self-driving car) will not have a ‘driver’ in the traditional sense that vehicles have had drivers during the last more than one hundred years.”
And:
Karl Brauer, senior analyst for the Kelley Blue Book automotive research firm, said there were still significant legal questions surrounding autonomous vehicles.
But if “NHTSA is prepared to name artificial intelligence as a viable alternative to human-controlled vehicles, it could substantially streamline the process of putting autonomous vehicles on the road,” he said.
Just another domino falling. Our robotic overlord drivers are coming.
So what happens if the system malfunctions and causes a collision – who or what is “at fault?” Will Google foot the repair bill?
Yes. Google has already assumed liability for it. As have Volvo and Mercedes Benz for the automated driving systems on their vehicles.
Wow… very interesting. So I guess liability insurance wouldn’t be required?
I, for one, welcome our driving robotic overlords.
The manufacturers of existing cars with automated driving functions like self parking are liable for any malfunction while the automation is in control, but you still have to be insured for the rest of the time. With the Google car, it would depend on what the circumstances are. If you have the option to switch to human control, then you would still need insurance. If not, I doubt adoption will be high, but it would leave the possibility of it being unnecessary. The law would have to catch up with it, though.