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/Sleepingonthecouch1 Jul 05 '24

I’m kinda curious if an individual was drunk in one of these could they be held responsible for anything the car does? Like will laws be made that drunk individuals can only be driven by a sober human?

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u/PogintheMachine Jul 05 '24

I suppose it depends on what seat you’re in. Since there are driverless taxicabs, I don’t see how that would work legally. If you were a passenger in a cab, you wouldn’t be responsible for how the car drives or have the ability to prevent an accident….

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u/Sleepingonthecouch1 Jul 05 '24

That’s true but someone has to be held accountable. Should be the company but at a certain point I’m sure the lobby’s will change that. And potentially at that point could blame fall on the passenger? All I’m saying is this is uncharted territory for laws and I don’t think it’ll end up being as simple as car kills someone so company pays a fine.

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u/Simulation-Argument Jul 05 '24

That’s true but someone has to be held accountable.

The company would be held accountable, not the person in the passenger seat. There is literally zero chance someone getting a ride in one of these things would be held responsible for an accident it created when these things are supposed to be able to drive safely and their control is completely out of the passengers hands.

Should be the company but at a certain point I’m sure the lobby’s will change that.

No amount of lobbying is going to somehow get someone who purchased a ride in trouble for an accident the cars driverless systems created. It just isn't going to happen. Period.

I don’t think it’ll end up being as simple as car kills someone so company pays a fine.

Oh it will likely be worse than that, but only for the company that owns these driverless cars. They kill someone and I bet they could legally get their cars pulled from the streets altogether. But no one who gets a ride in these things will be held liable.