Volvo says it will accept full liability for driverless car accidents in its cars
Volvo recently announced that it will be accepting full liability for accidents that involve driverless vehicles. It is one of the first automakers to make that announcement.
For quite some time,the driverless vehicles debate has argued who will be responsible if a self-driving vehicle gets in an accident? Although many are eager to get them out on the road, others are hesitant of if driverless vehicles will really be as safe as some claim. Mercedes and Google have also made similar claims regarding accepting liability for accidents in the vehicles. Volvo said it would accept full liability as long as the accident was a due to a flaw in the vehicle’s design. It will not take responsibility, however, if the accident is due to the user or a third party.
Volvo’s representatives have said that the announcement was made in hopes that the US would speed up its regulation process where certain rules are holding back the industry. President of Volvo Cars, Hakan Samuellson, fears that the US risks losing its leading position as being the most progressive country in the world in autonomous driving due to the lack of Federal guidelines for the testing and certification of the vehicles. Currently, each state has very different and inconsistent rules, which makes it difficult for companies to roll out new technology. California and Nevada are the only states that currently allow autonomous vehicles on public roads. The largest question is mostly around who would be liable if the vehicle crashed.
Will Volvo’s announcement actually help speed up legislation? If enough manufacturers rise up and take the same claim as Volvo, then maybe. There is still a concern for how many accidents these vehicles will cause. Even if a company was to accept full liability, if its vehicles are causing thousands of accidents and causing severe injuries or death, then it really doesn’t matter who accepts liability. Too many lives are being lost.
We will most likely not see a great deal of driverless vehicles on all our roads until more of these grey issues related to safety are resolved. Unfortunately, it seems as though federal regulators are not eager to speed up the process.
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