Your Guide to Self-Driving Car Accidents
No one knows precisely when self-driving cars will completely take over the roads, but it’s evident that the industry is growing rapidly. With companies such as Uber and Tesla investing in the technology, it’s only a matter of time until autonomous vehicles are the norm. However, with this new technology comes new risks.
Recently, a self-driving Uber car was involved in a fatal accident, raising questions about the safety of these vehicles. While it’s still early on in the development of self-driving vehicles, this accident is a reminder that we need to be cautious as we move forward. If you sustain injuries in an accident involving a self-driving car, you should talk to a Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney.
Who Is Liable?
After an accident involving a self-driving car, one of the biggest questions is who is liable? The driver, the car manufacturer, or the software developer? This is still an open question, and multiple parties will likely be held responsible in cases like this. In Philadelphia, liability in accidents like this will likely depend on the specific circumstances of the accident. For example, if the other driver may have been partially at fault for the accident.
How Do You Prove Liability?
If you are not at fault for the accident, the next important issue to tackle is whether you can prove that the other driver was liable. The first and most obvious way to do this is with eyewitness testimony. Eyewitnesses who saw what happened will provide evidence of how the accident occurred and if another driver or a self-driving car was at fault.
However, eyewitness accounts are not always perfect. Juries have been known to distrust eyewitness testimony, so you should also prepare a second way to prove liability if possible.
If the accident happened due to the self-drive software installed in the car, there would likely be a way to obtain this information in the software coding. A forensics team may recover and disclose what happened at the time of the accident. However, when accidents like this occur in most cases, liability will depend on how well the other driver was operating their vehicle.
How Can A Personal Injury Attorney Help You?
The landscape of self-driving car accidents is still in its infancy, but it’s quickly evolving. As such, you may not know how to navigate the legal field if you get into one. That’s where a personal injury attorney could be helpful. A personal injury lawyer can help you prove liability, and they can also help you file a personal injury claim for any damages.
If you need to go to court, proving liability in an accident involving a self-driving car can be difficult. You’ll need to gather evidence from the accident scene, as well as eyewitness testimony and expert reports. This can be tricky, especially if the accident happened in another state. Contacting a personal injury attorney can help you navigate these complex legal waters.
To summarize, self-driving cars are a great invention, but safety concerns still exist. One of the biggest challenges associated with self-driving car accidents is proving liability. Liability shifts from the driver to the manufacturer depending on the circumstances. To prove liability, you need eyewitness statements or proof of defect from the software. A personal injury lawyer can help you establish liability and gather evidence.