Self-driving car from lawyer Frederick Penney’s perspective
SACRAMENTO, Calif., March 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — On March 18, 2018, the first known automobile accident death by a self-driving car occurred in Tempe, Arizona where a Volvo XC90 SUV struck Elaine Herzberg while crossing the street with her bicycle. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Elaine_Herzberg. As the managing partner of Penney and Associates, Injury lawyers I have thought about the ramifications of this accident for years. How will criminal and civil liability be assessed for self-driving vehicles. https://www.penneylawyers.com/. Before anyone starts to think that the self-driving car was the cause of this tragic accident, it is important to note that unfortunately all parties involved in this accident settled their cases out of court with a confidentiality agreement. However, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigated the accident and reviewed all the Uber Volvo XC90 sports utility vehicles video cameras and data recorders. A few general facts were surmised. The individual in the test vehicle was looking down at the time of the impact. The vehicle was driving 43 mph when Herzberg was first detected by the Uber self-driving vehicle. The vehicle was 6 seconds away from impact and did not infer that emergency braking was needed. This is where the legal liability argument begins, but this article is not going to focus on this accident but about accidents involving self-driving vehicles in the future. The question at hand is when an individual loses their life in an accident involving a self-driving vehicle, who is going to be criminally and civilly liable?