On behalf of David Raimondo of The Raimondo Law Firm posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, August 19, 2014.
A recent article in Reuters is drawing attention to something that was once only possible in science fiction movies – driverless cars. Cars that can drive on their own are no longer a thing of the past. In fact, Google currently has a car that could be on the roads “by the end of this decade,” according to the report.
The Google car is able to navigate through use of radar sensors mounted on the front of the vehicle combined with a “revolving cylinder” that is attached to the roof the car and loaded with “lasers, cameras, sensors and other detection and guidance gear.” Although the car could lead to a reduction in the number of car accidents on our nation’s roadways, the use of these vehicles opens a whole new debate on ethical issues.
One of the most notable issues is whether or not the vehicle should save its occupants at the expense of others. Also, developers encourage awareness of the fact that although these computer operated vehicles will likely make far less mistakes than human drivers, mistakes will still be made. Is society ready to deal with a car accident caused by a computer that leads to human casualties?
These are just a few of the many issues that need to be addressed before computer driven vehicles begin to become a normal occurence. In the meantime, instead of worrying about a computer operated car causing an accident drivers need to continue to deal with the ramifications of car accidents caused by the actions of negligent or reckless humans. Victims of these accidents should reach out to an experienced car accident attorney for guidance and to help better ensure their legal rights and any potential remedies are protected.
Source: Reuters, “Look, no hands! Test driving a Google car,” Paul Ingrassia, August 17, 2014
