Simon Law Firm APRIL 2018

www.christophersimon.com

404-259-7635

april 2018

F irst S elf -D riving C ar P edestrian F atality

O n March 18, 2018, Elaine Herzberg sadly became the first fatality of the autonomous car era in Tempe, Arizona, and that is a tragedy by itself. As a result, Uber, the company that operated the car, suspended all self-driving vehicle testing pending an investigation, and Toyota quickly followed suit. The tragedy is significant for a number of reasons, as it highlights several important points. 1. Self-driving cars are not going to be perfect for many years. 2. Video in cars is going to revolutionize car accident claims faster than autonomous vehicles. 3. We all need to keep a close eye on the arbitration clauses that are going to be written into these vehicle purchases. Autonomous Cars Won’t Be Perfect Though the technology matrix of radar and cameras combined with lightning-quick processors can make recognition and response times faster than a human, there are weaknesses. For example, trees can bend under the weight of rain and obscure a stop sign, resulting in a car driving through an intersection. In the recent fatal accident, the vehicle had cameras that law enforcement reviewed. They concluded that the pedestrian stepped right out

into the street in front of the vehicle with no time for the brakes to be activated. A computer may perceive the pedestrian on the curb but have no reason to anticipate that they will step into the road, whereas a human might say, “That lady looks like she might walk in front of me. I should slow down.” The investigation also revealed that the car was going 38 mph in a 35-mph zone. Doesn’t it seem strange that the vehicle’s computer was set to go faster than the speed limit? What is the thinking there? Dashcams Will Revolutionize Accident Claims Faster Than Robot Cars Dashcams are already the standard in Europe, and they’re catching on in the States. The Uber vehicle was equipped with one, so the police were able to review the camera >Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4

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