Are Self-Driving Cars Safe?
September 12, 2024 | Sagi Shaked | Car Accidents
In 2019, a bill allowing fully autonomous vehicles to drive on public roads was signed in Florida. And seeing as we’re several years from that bill’s enactment, the obvious question is, of course, “Are self-driving cars safe?”
As it turns out, there is no definitive answer to that question yet. But that’s because Florida, for the time being, doesn’t need one yet. The legislation only applies to fully autonomous self-driving cars, and so far, none have actually made it outside of their testing phase.
Thus, if you see what looks to be a fully autonomous car driving on a Florida highway today, it is a test vehicle. In other words, there’s a driver behind the wheel, and that driver is required to be paying attention to the road just as any other. However, that may not be the case several years from now when these vehicles have moved beyond the testing phase.
On that note, below is everything you need to know about self-driving cars in the Sunshine State.
How Are Driverless Cars Safer Than Normal Cars?
In some ways, it can be argued that a driverless car is, in fact, safer than a normal car. The biggest factor behind that claim is that the computer system running the driverless vehicle is not a human being.
In other words, a driverless vehicle will never find itself conducting the following behaviors that are common with irresponsible and reckless human drivers:
- Driving while drunk
- Falling asleep at the wheel
- Getting distracted (by a digital device or other stimuli)
- Drag racing
Driverless vehicles also are less likely to make judgment errors. Assuming it is programmed correctly, a driverless car shouldn’t overdrive road conditions in the rain. Similarly, it shouldn’t try to outpace a traffic light that is turning red.
Furthermore, driverless cars may also be safer because they have almost no blind spot. Current driverless cars are built with a whole suite of cameras pointing in nearly every imaginable direction. Comparatively, virtually all traditional vehicles have blind spots that we, as humans, have limited means of dealing with.
Why Self-Driving Cars Are Not Safe
The above details may make it seem like autonomous cars are road-ready. However, there are plenty of cons of self-driving cars to be aware of as well.
The following are some of the most significant reasons why driverless cars are not nearly safe enough yet:
Liability
One of the biggest problems with a self-driving car involves the question of liability. According to the Florida Bar Association, liability is an unanswered question when it comes to self-driving cars.
Current legislation states that the operator of an offending vehicle is liable. However, “the operator” is not well defined, especially when all passengers are in the back seat, or the only passenger is a child. A person without a driver’s license could be considered the operator, but they wouldn’t have any insurance.
That, then, leads to the question of who would pay your medical bills if you got into a car accident. Thankfully, though, that question is easy to answer in Florida, seeing as it is a no-fault car insurance state. If you get into a car accident, your insurance will cover your medical expenses, regardless of who was responsible.
But that coverage only goes so far. If you are injured seriously enough in a car accident, you have the right to file a lawsuit against the liable party. And it is here where a self-driving car becomes problematic once again. Even determining who the liable party is can be difficult, and a court case would involve a lot of complex issues.
The same problem exists in single-vehicle accidents. If a self-driving car crashes into your home, for example, who would pay for the damages? The answers to that question are currently quite unclear.
Cybersecurity
Modern vehicles often have an internet connection. But that opens the door to hackers, who can potentially make a vehicle inoperable, even while it is already in use.
Driverless cars are even more vulnerable to these threats than the average vehicle. If your car is hacked while you are driving it, the electronic features may suddenly fail. But you can still use traditional safety measures, like your hand brake, to avoid an accident.
That option simply isn’t there for a self-driving vehicle. Even worse, depending on how the car is hacked, it is possible that another party could take control of the vehicle or reprogram it to intentionally cause accidents.
Technology Failure
Self-driving cars are also significantly more prone to technology failures than traditional vehicles. The average car has hundreds of parts, but most of them can fail without the car completely ceasing to function.
For example, if the motor in your automatic window fails, the only consequence is that you can no longer open or close your window. And while annoying, it isn’t something that should prevent you from safely completing a trip.
A driverless car consists of significantly more critical parts, like all of its cameras and internal systems. As such, even a single failure can make the car undrivable. And though the car will pull over and refuse to drive itself, that still raises a potential danger.
Changing Laws
When the rules of the road change, it is relatively easy for us to adapt to such changes. A self-driving vehicle, however, needs to be reprogrammed by way of a software update, which may take time to develop, test, and distribute. Therefore, it could be days or even weeks before a self-driving car incorporates such crucial changes.
Self-Driving Cars Are Relatively Safe — For Now
If you see a self-driving car on the road right now, it must have a driver behind the wheel who is paying attention to the road. Either the vehicle doesn’t have full self-driving features, or it is still being tested. That means, for the moment, self-driving cars have both a human and a computer trying to prevent an accident. When that changes, though, these cars may become a large problem.
Contact Our Car Accident Law Firm in Miami, FL
If you’ve been injured in an accident in Miami, FL and need legal help, contact our Miami car accident lawyers at Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers to schedule a free consultation.
Shaked Law Personal Injury Lawyers
20900 NE 30th Ave Suite 715
Aventura, FL 33180
(305) 937-0191