Personal injury law: Self-driving cars and injury claims
On Behalf of Porter Ramsay LLP | Jul, 18, 2019 | Personal Injury Law
The advent of self-driving cars may open up a whole can of worms when it comes to insurance claims. As it now stands under personal injury law, British Columbia residents have the right to speak to a lawyer about compensation when they have been injured in a motor vehicle accident. In instances when self-driving cars are involved in collisions where one or more individuals are hurt or killed, who would be at fault?
Experts are saying insurance costs are likely to fall since the number of accidents is predicted to fall as well. But accident responsibility is expected to shift from drivers (who aren’t really driving) to the manufacturers and providers of these vehicles. Some of these vehicles will be semi-automated, so the insurance industry is investigating how liability in these respects would be shared.
The good for drivers who don’t trust these autonomous vehicles is that they will still be able to drive vehicles on their own. Drivers won’t be forced to drive in self-driving vehicles. Experts say it might be decades before autonomous vehicles completely replace manual ones.
As legislation is re-defined regarding self-driving vehicles, a British Columbia lawyer experienced in personal injury law may be able to answer questions from clients who become injured as a result of accidents in these vehicles. Those injured in motor vehicle accidents have the right to speak to a lawyer regarding compensation for things like pain and suffering, lost wages and increased medical expenses. In addition, family members who have lost loved ones in motor vehicle crashes where another was at fault also have the right to speak to a lawyer about compensation.