Anyone injured in a serious car accident here in Pasadena, California, can have a chance at recovering damages, provided that he or she did not share most of the blame. Perhaps this is your situation right now. Perhaps there is some question, too, of whether the driver was negligent or whether a defective part that the driver could not have known about was involved.
Such a question becomes pressing when the case concerns a self-driving car. If you’ve had doubts about these cars, you’re on the same page as the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The IIHS conducted a study showing that self-driving cars are far from capable of banishing all driver error.
Preventing 33% of error-related crashes
For the study, researchers looked at over 5,000 crashes that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had collected for its National Motor Vehicle Crash Causation Survey. Noting what errors were behind each crash, researchers divided them into:
• Sensing and perceiving errors
• Errors in prediction
• Planning and deciding errors
• Execution and performance errors
• Errors from incapacitation
It turns out that self-driving cars could only avert the first, which contributed to 23% of the crashes, and the fifth, which contributed to 10%. One-third of crashes falls short of most auto enthusiasts’ expectations.
The driver errors, in more depth
Sensing and perceiving errors include errors caused by distracted drivers and drivers who recognize hazards all too late either through distraction or through impeded visibility. Errors from incapacitation include negligent behaviors brought on by alcohol, drugs or medications or by extreme drowsiness.
Predicting errors include incorrect judgments of vehicle speed and traffic gaps. Planning and deciding errors range from driving too fast on a wet road to tailgating. Execution and performance errors cover bad maneuvers that cause drivers to lose control.
A lawyer for complex accident cases
The potential defendant in your case may have been driving an autonomous vehicle, which introduces all kinds of complexities. You may want a lawyer to handle your personal injury claim with personal attention and to represent you against the other driver’s auto insurance company. Everything starts with a consultation.
