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Humans at fault in collisions with driverless cars

On Behalf of | Dec 22, 2015 | Car Accidents

Driverless cars may be the key when it comes to reducing the number of car accidents in the future. However, currently, Cleveland motorists may be surprised to learn these self-driving vehicles are involved in accidents at twice the rate of human-driven automobiles.

Humans are generally at fault when these accidents occur. Driverless cars are programmed to obey all traffic laws. Humans, however, don’t always obey the laws and may slam into driverless cars that are going under the speed limit or taking longer at stop signs. Additionally, driverless cars going the speed limit could run into problems when they try to merge onto busy freeways or change lanes when all other cars are speeding over the limit, thus setting the stage for car accidents.

Google cars have reportedly been involved in 17 minor crashes in 2 million miles. It is looking into ways to make their vehicles more aggressive to go with the traffic flow. As is, the vehicles reportedly have a faster reaction time than that of humans, and human drivers may be caught off guard. The driverless vehicles may stop abruptly, for example, if they detect a pedestrian stepping off of the sidewalk while a human driver may not stop in the same situation.

Not many people have driverless cars now, but they are expected to increase in numbers and popularity since they’re designed to reduce car accidents. If someone is injured in an accident with a driverless car, the manufacturer of the vehicle may be held liable if the driverless car was at fault. Victims may choose to seek compensation through a personal injury claim.

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