While many technological developments are exciting, the law often struggles to keep up with their use. One such development is self-driving cars. We may not have driverless cars on Australian roads yet – but advancement is happening all the time.
This brings up many questions about how the laws around our road use will apply with self-driving cars on the road. And how will they affect future motor vehicle injury claims?
Personal injury law and vehicle accidents
In Australia, motor vehicle owners must have compulsory third party (CTP) insurance. This covers them in case they injure someone on the road. For example, if you’re a pedestrian hit by a car running through a crossing, you can make a motor vehicle accident claim for compensation against the driver’s CTP insurance.
If you can’t identify the driver (e.g. a hit and run), you can claim through the Nominal Defendant, a statutory body that acts as the CTP insurer for vehicles with uninsured or unidentified drivers.
But how would personal injury law work with self-driving cars? Who would be liable for your injuries?
What is a self-driving car?
Also called a driverless or autonomous car, a self-driving car uses cameras, sensors, radars and AI to drive without a human operating the car. It uses all the information provided by these systems to identify objects outside the car and react accordingly.
These cars are self-learning, so their ability to make fast, effective choices increases as they gather more data.
There are different levels of autonomy, from something common like cruise control to full autonomy (i.e. being able to navigate roads that haven’t been adapted for its use without any human assistance).
We haven’t reach the stage of full autonomy yet. Even cars that do a lot of the work for drivers have an override function, so a human can take control if necessary. So it’ll be a while before driverless cars are a common sight on our roads.
But more cars than ever have self-driving features like:
- blind spot detection
- hands-free steering
- cruise control
- lane centring.
These functions are all performed by the car, but the driver still needs to pay attention and be ready to take over if necessary.
Potential problems with self-driving cars
As 94% of serious crashes are caused by human error, it seems like a good idea to take driving out of human hands. But self-driving cars do have some vulnerabilities that could cause a crash, including:
- software problems
- mechanical problems
- cybersecurity problems – the threat of being hacked.
Drivers might also become complacent and not notice problems before they become dangerous and cause a crash.
So there is still a good chance that a self-driving car could cause a serious accident and injure other road users.
Who is liable if an autonomous car is driving?
The key to making a personal injury claim after a motor vehicle accident is to find out who was at fault. That person would be liable to pay compensation to the injured person. If the responsibility for the crash is shared, the injured person would receive a proportion of the compensation depending on their level of responsibility.
If a self-driving car causes a car accident, the liability might be placed on:
- the manufacturer
- the software developer
- the person operating the vehicle.
Depending on the situation, the responsibility might be shared by all three of those.
In the United States, which has more autonomous cars on the road than Australia, we’re already seeing how courts are ruling in these cases. Here are 2 examples:
- In 2023, a Tesla vehicle on autopilot ran a red light and killed 2 people. The court found the driver to be at fault.
- Similarly, a Tesla vehicle on autopilot drove off the road into a tree, killing the driver. Tesla was cleared of any fault as the driver wasn’t paying attention to warnings.
Generally, a driver is still considered responsible for the vehicle no matter what technology it’s using. The driver is expected to understand the technology and maintain a duty of care for passengers and other road users.
Of course, some motor vehicle accidents are caused by a problem with the vehicle’s design or manufacture. And in this case, the driver might not be liable. Liability for accidents is expected to shift more towards negligent manufacturers once cars gain the next level of automation.
At this level, the car’s system is watching the road and making decisions based on what’s happening outside the vehicle. So if it fails to identify something or gets confused and makes the wrong decision, causing a crash, it’s the fault of the driving system, not the human.
So, as always, liability is considered on a case-by-case basis. This is an area that is constantly changing and it’ll be interesting to see how it evolves as the technology develops further.
Claiming personal injury after an accident with a self-driving car
No matter what technology a vehicle is using, you can always claim compensation if you’re injured in a motor vehicle accident by a self-driving car. It will be a matter of determining what caused the crash and assigning liability.
If another driver is at fault, you can make a claim under their CTP insurance.
If the fault is due to the design, programming, manufacture, testing or maintenance of the vehicle, you may be able to make a claim against the manufacturer – through their insurance rather than driver’s CTP insurance.
Either way, it’s vital to get advice from an experienced motor vehicle accident lawyer who is keeping an eye on this ever-changing area of law.
How Main Lawyers can help
Making a personal injury claim after an accident caused by a self-driving car is a complex and ever-evolving area of the law. This technology is continuing to advance and personal injury law needs to advance with it.
At Main Lawyers, we are staying abreast of all the developments, so we can provide the most up-to-date advice to our clients. If you’re injured in a crash with a self-driving car, contact us to discuss your options. We offer a free initial consultation so you’ve got nothing to lose by giving us a call!