GM has been testing autonomous vehicle technology on the streets of San Francisco since August 2017, putting the cars in purposefully challenging conditions to ensure that their safety features work. Unfortunately, the vehicles have been involved in a number of accidents (at least six in September alone). One of those accidents (which happened in December) involved a motorcyclist, who has now filed a lawsuit claiming that he suffered personal injuries in an accident with one of the company’s self-driving cars, when a self-driving Chevrolet Bolt vehicle veered suddenly into his lane, knocking him to the ground. You can read the complaint here.
As reported by AboutLawsuits here, the lawsuit comes amid a push for the deployment of self-driving vehicle regulations.
New federal guidance, A Vision for Safety 2.0, was released by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) and the NHTSA in September, providing recommendations for the automotive industry and States to follow while developing the evolving technologies used in self-driving vehicles.
For my most recent posts on issues related to driverless cars, go to "Update on the debate regarding possible liability for injuries caused by autonomous cars" and "Podcast: Challenges of self driving cars."
