The notion that Google will be liable to lawsuits is ludicrous. The technology won’t become widespread until states, or possibly the feds, exclude Google and the manufacturers from liability.
A bigger concern to me is the fact that presently there are systems available to hack into some cars remotely while they are going down the road and do things like turn off the ignition and possibly control acceleration.
With the google car you have the potential for every system of the car to be remote controlled. Kinda scary.
Yes — absolutely. People who think that trial lawyers will be allowed to get their hands on this industry in any special way are smoking crack. Laws will be written such that as long as self-driving cars are statistically less likely to cause damages can than regular cars, “statistical” type accidents will entail no special damage awards. Manufacturers will still be liable for defects that are the result of clear negligence, but that’s no different from now.
All you need to do is look at how easily Uber and Lyft have overturned a hundred years of law and practice regarding taxis and their drivers in some of the most liberal cities in the country. Liberals celebrate workers and regulation until it would actually have a cost to them — losing a far better way to get around — and when that happens, forget about it.