With lingering uncertainties in the law, expect needless courtroom wrangling over the number of seconds allowed a panic stricken Human Driver to take the wheel from a Computer Driver who sounded the alarm to transfer control of the vehicle.
What’s at stake?
Highly automated vehicles present a frightening conundrum when a Computer Driver shares the steering wheel with a Human Driver. Which party is responsible for driving? How and when do the robot and the person switch roles? At stake is the Human Driver’s liability. Automakers prefer the human as the fall guy, leaving jurors to decide without clear legal standards if a Computer Driver, when it bails out, imposed an unreasonable demand on the Human.