Hartford, CT - As self-driving cars come closer to being a regular sight on the roads, Connecticut car accident attorney Joseph Morelli of the Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone & Morelli warns that the safety of such vehicles remains in doubt. "People are apprehensive and with good reason," he said. "Self-driving technology has not been proven safe. Accidents are going to happen."
Morelli made his comments in response to a recent AAA report that found 54 percent of drivers surveyed felt less safe at the prospect of sharing the road with a self-driving car.
Makers of self-driving cars claim the vehicles will make the roads safer by removing human error. But critics point out that the technology is flawed and runs into problems with factors such as unpredictable drivers, police directing traffic and inclement weather.
Autonomous vehicles have been involved in crashes during testing phases. And on May 7, 2016, Joshua Brown was killed in a Tesla Model S after crashing into a truck on a Florida highway, becoming the first fatality linked to a self-driving car.
Morelli said another issue is liability. "When there's an accident and someone gets hurt, who will be held responsible?" he asked. "The car manufacturers, the software makers? These issues need to be sorted out."
Some self-driving technologies are already in use in certain vehicles, including collision avoidance, drifting warning, blind-spot detectors, enhanced cruise control and self-parking. The AAA report found acceptance of these technologies by most respondents, with 59 percent saying they wanted these types of technologies in their next car.