Vehicles that operate on New York roads and others throughout the country have limited autonomous capabilities. However, according to AAA, it is unlikely that there will be a truly self-driving car on the road for many years or decades to come. This is partially because Americans have many questions about how safe such a vehicle would be. A survey conducted by AAA revealed that only 12% of respondents would feel comfortable riding in a car that drove itself.
Roughly half of those who responded to the survey needed to know more about how safe such a vehicle was before they would get in one. The survey also found that roughly half of respondents said that they wanted to know if a car that drove itself could be vulnerable to hackers. Finally, many people said that it wasn’t clear who would be liable in the event that a self-driving car was involved in an accident.
Survey respondents were more likely to feel good about riding in a self-driving vehicle if there were a way to regain control of it if necessary. Of survey respondents, 72% said that they would ride in a car that drove itself if a human was available to take over in an emergency. A majority or respondents also said that they would use a self-driving car if they could take over in an emergency situation.
A person who is hurt in a motor vehicle accident might receive compensation for medical bills and other financial damages incurred. This is generally true if an accident was caused by another person or entity’s negligence. An attorney may be able to show that a driver was tired, driving too fast for road conditions or otherwise violated a duty of care toward the victim when the accident happened.