In an “Insights” piece for Bloomberg Law, Kenneth S. Abraham of University of Virginia School of Law and Robert L. Rabin of Stanford Law School conduct a thorough examination of the current system for handling accidents involving driverless vehicles.
Professors Abraham and Rabin suggest that as the utilization of these types of vehicles increases, the need will become more pressing for lawmakers to reevaluate, and restructure, the law to better fit this new type of accident. They argue that this “new regime” should effectively and sensibly promote safety, and provide compensation, at a higher degree than the existing tort doctrines governing driver liability for negligence and manufacturer liability for product defects currently in place.
“Like labor and management a century ago, auto manufactures, consumers, and the public at large-large–often currently at odds about the tort system–will need to have their interests come together if the new era of automated transportation is to be governed by an adequate regime.”
Read the full piece here.