Autonomous cars involved in accidents caused by human drivers

Although it may still be a rare sight, driverless cars can be increasingly found on California roadways. As more vehicles are taking to the roads, however, a glitch in their programming has caused them to have a crash rate that is double the crash rate involving human drivers.

The main problem is that self-driving cars are designed to follow the laws at all times. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can create chaos when the driverless vehicle is sharing the roadways which human drivers who do not always follow the laws. The co-director of a Pittsburgh-based autonomous driving research center stated that there was a constant debate about whether the vehicles should be programmed to commit small infractions in order to prevent minor accidents.

While the accident rate may be higher, it was discovered in a University of Michigan study that the driverless vehicles were never at fault. In most cases, the vehicles were rear-ended at slow speeds by drivers who were not paying attention. Most of the accidents involving Google cars have occurred in California as this is where the company is testing them. In response, California proposed rules that would require human drivers to be ready to take the wheel when the need arose.

When a car accident occurs, people who are injured often face high medical expenses and long periods of recovery during which they are unable to work, further worsening their financial condition. If the accident was caused by the negligence of another motorist, a personal injury attorney can often assist an injured victim in seeking compensation for these and other losses through a lawsuit filed against the at-fault driver.