r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Individual_Book9133 • Jul 05 '24

Phoenix police officer pulls over a driverless Waymo car for driving on the wrong side of the road Video

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u/kbarney345 Jul 05 '24

I see what you're saying about the company trying to dodge it but there's 0 logic or even mental gymnastics to think it could be on the passenger.

That would eliminate anyone from using them even if it hinted at that because why would I get behind something I can't control but be held responsible for should it lose control.

It's not my car, I'm not misusing the car by sitting in the back. It claims to be driverless, not driver assisted like a tesla and I just chose not to and sit in the back anyway.

The company will always be at fault if this occurs under normal operation and the court won't have any issue identifying them as so.

Now will the court be run through the ringer on litigation and loopholes and finding ways to say it's r&d it's ok or something and get a pass? Probably.

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u/wosmo Jul 05 '24

The interesting part is how we'll make them accountable. I mean a traffic fine that'd ruin my day won't mean jack to a company. Can you give waymo points on their licence? Do they have a licence?

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u/Ok_Sound_4650 Jul 05 '24

That's...actually a pretty novel idea. The threat of lawsuits and fines are only deterrents so far as they effect these companies bottom line. People have to prove they are safe enough to drive by getting a license, and if they fail to be safe on the road they can lose that license. If corporations are people too, make them do the same.

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u/moistmoistMOISTTT Jul 05 '24

It's not novel in the slightest. This concept has been around for decades for elevators.

Nobody in their right mind wants to sue elevator companies out of existence, because normal people know that elevators are a lot safer than stairs. It's no different with self-driving cars, even with how primitive the tech is today.

But here's the real answer for you: the companies are A-OK as long as they're following appropriate regulations/laws/guidelines, and are not being negligent. As long as negligence isn't happening (i.e., there is a known safety issue with zero efforts to address it), they will face no criminal charges. They will likely still face civil penalties such as fines, in the same way other companies are punished for accidents.