Introduction
There is no doubt that the utilization of modern technologies has numerous advantages. However, sometimes, the use of technologies may lead to negative consequences and even legal proceedings. For instance, when Uber introduced its self-driving cars and started testing them, a car accident that resulted in the death of a pedestrian occurred (Johnson & Fitzsimmons, 2018). It led to investigations aimed to reveal who was responsible for the accident. In this essay, the consequences of the violation of a criminal traffic or driving statute that may happen during a self-driving mode will be discussed. Also, it will be identified if Uber is liable for accidents in which people are injured as a result of a crash with self-driving cars.
Main body
The liability of a company or an individual depends on a number of factors. First of all, to understand who is responsible for a crash, it is necessary to conduct an investigation, which is usually performed by specialized agencies. There are many parties that may be liable for traffic accidents. They include automated cars, operators, pedestrians (or other vehicles involved in the accident), companies that introduced the utilization of self-driving cars, and the state.
If Uber developed self-driving cars and was caught violating a criminal traffic or driving statute while in a self-driving mode, then the company is liable for breaking the law. In this situation, neither state nor pedestrians or other vehicles are involved. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure that the operation of automated cars is performed according to the law. Nevertheless, this situation needs further investigation as operators of automated cars are supposed to interfere in the process of driving if there are any unfavorable circumstances on the roads. The system, established in the self-driving vehicles, warns the drivers if there is a need to turn off the automatic mode. However, car operators still have an opportunity to drive the car at any time. Therefore, it should be investigated if the violation of rules occurred as a result of inattention of drivers or failure of the automatic system. In the first case, cat operators will be liable for the violation of traffic rules. In the second case, Uber is liable, as the company has to make sure that self-driving cars do not violate any regulations.
If Uber or another company developed a commercial self-driving car, and it was responsible for an accident in which people were injured, there may be several liable parties. For instance, the latest investigation on Uber crash that occurred in 2018 split the blame between the company, the driver, the victim, and the state (Evarts, 2020). The state of Arizona issued a new order on March 1, 2018, that allowed fully autonomous operation on public roads. However, the vehicles should meet a “minimal risk condition,” which means that the cars should be safe, even experiencing a failure (Bogost, 2018). For the period of 60 days, after the order was issued, the vehicles had to be checked to reveal if they meet minimum requirements. Since the accident occurred on March 18, it was not relevant to the crash that led to the death of a pedestrian. Thus, the state is liable as it failed to ensure the regulation of traffic innovations in time.
Also, the investigation showed that if the car operator was more attentive, she would have enough time to react to the pedestrian (Falcone, Allsop, & Eaton, 2019). Uber is liable as well because the alert system that was supposed to warn the driver about the risky situation did not work. As for the victim, it was detected that the pedestrian was not attentive enough while crossing the road.
Conclusion
Therefore, it can be concluded that the liability of a company, individual, or group of people for accidents or law violations depends on circumstances specific to each case. Thus, if Uber was caught violating a traffic law while using self-driving vehicles, then either the company or car operator is liable. In some situations, when an accident results in injury or the death of people, there may be many liable parties.
References
Bogost, I. (2018). Can You Sue a Robocar?Web.
Evarts, H. (2020). Who is Liable? The AV or the Human Driver? Web.
Falcone, J. G., Allsop, J., & Eaton, C. (2019). NTSB determines immediate cause of fatal Uber crash was failure of human operator [Blog post]. Web.
Johnson, L., & Fitzsimmons, M. (2018). Uber self-driving cars: everything you need to know.Web.