Tech companies making self-driving cars could become better protected under the law than those car’s owners, experts warn, as the announcement came of a powerful new coalition of automakers and big tech companies forming to take on US government regulations around self-driving vehicles.
Google, Uber, Lyft, Ford and Volvo, all of which are working on self-driving car technology, will lobby as the Self-Driving Coalition for Safer Streets to bring autonomous vehicles to the road across the US.
There’s general consensus that self-driving cars will eventually make roads safer. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death among those 15 to 29 years old. The first task for the lobbying group will be just rolling out self-driving cars.
But the liability issues will be thorny. A powerful corporate lobbying force may pose a new challenge for personal injury lawyers, who are already wary of the technology, while some safety researchers and accident lawyers worry that the lobbying group could unfairly protect tech companies and app makers over their human car owners.
“Self-driving vehicle technology will make America’s roadways safer and less congested,” Strickland said in a statement. “The best path for this innovation is to have one clear set of federal standards, and the Coalition will work with policymakers to find the right solutions that will facilitate the deployment of self-driving vehicles.”