WHO’ S AT FAULT IN A SELF-DRIVING CAR ACCIDENT?

As self-driving cars shift from science fiction to everyday reality, the law is finding itself in uncharted territory. For more than a century, traffic laws and tort claims have centered around human behavior, whether a driver was speeding, texting, or ignoring a stop sign. But in a future where a vehicle makes its own decisions, the traditional framework for determining fault begins to falter. The central question is deceptively simple yet legally complex: when an autonomous vehicle causes a crash, who is responsible?

22 The Trial Lawyer