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19 J. High Tech. L. 1 (2018-2019)

handle is hein.journals/jhtl19 and id is 1 raw text is: 







        LIABILITY CONSIDERATIONS WHEN AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES
                      CHOOSE THE ACCIDENT VICTIM




                          Alfred R. Cowger, Jr.1




                                Abstract

       In a few years, autonomous vehicles will be prevalent on roadways.
These vehicles will be designed to operate without human intervention.
Through the use of algorithms, a vehicle's on-board computer will determine
who or what is hit by that vehicle if a collision is unavoidable. This article
demonstrates that current product liability standards are inapplicable to the
new   technology   of  autonomous    vehicles, and   suggests   alternative
approaches for compensating the victim chosen by an autonomous vehicle
in an unavoidable accident scenario.

I.      Introduction

       Autonomous vehicles that drive themselves independent of their
human occupants are no longer the stuff of science fiction.2 Semi-
autonomous vehicles, i.e. those that use computers and sensors to detect


1 Contract Counsel, Applied Industrial Technologies, Cleveland, OH. Cornell University,
B.A. 1982. Case Western Reserve University, J.D. 1985. This article was inspired by a
course presented by Assoc. Professor David A. Pizarro of Cornell University at theCornell
Adult University in July 2015 on The Ethical Mind: Morality and Everyday Life.
2 See David F. Klein, New Roads: Impact of autonomous vehicles on law and insurance, 28
No. 41 WESTLAW J. INS. COVERAGE 1, 2-3 (2018) (explaining that as society is entering a
new era of automation in transportation, there is a lack of understanding when it comes to
the limits of the Level 3 automation available in vehicles); See also Matt McFarland,
Autonomous Vehicles are Coming. Now comes the hard part, CNN TECH (Aug. 15, 2018),
archived at https://perma.cc/GGS7-PFJ5 (explaining how self-driving cars are common
already, and will shortly become a norm in society).




     Copyright © 2018 Journal of High Technology Law and Alfred. R. Cowger, Jr.
                     All Rights Resolved. ISSN 1536-7983.

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