Say your new Volvo scrapes someone’s fender in a parking lot. If the car’s autopilot feature was enabled, well, that damage is now Volvo’s fault. Case closed, check’s in the mail!
That could happen. At the Swedish embassy in Washington, D.C., CEO Håkan Samuelsson told a small crowd that the automaker would “accept full liability” whenever its cars are involved in accidents—presumably when they’re at fault—and engaged in autonomous mode. In a 60 Minutes segment on self-driving cars, Mercedes-Benz and Google told reporters they would also accept liability. Days earlier, Volvo detailed how drivers would enable and monitor the autopilot function when it becomes available.
Volvo, to its own credit, has also promised zero fatalities or serious injuries in all of its cars worldwide by 2020. A big core of that will come from autonomous technology and driver assists such as auto-braking.
- Volvo Details Autopilot Feature for Its Self-Driving Feature
- Selfish Whims: We Go For a Ride in Google’s Self-Driving Car
- Lexus Debuts Self-Driving Feature, Will Come to Market by 2020
Automakers have never involved themselves in the insurance business—although they get sued all the time, of course—and accepting liability sounds like a legal rabbit hole we’re not sure any company would willingly invite. But it may be what’s needed to remove an important obstacle to a future of autonomous cars.
Clifford Atiyeh is a reporter and photographer for Car and Driver, specializing in business, government, and litigation news. He is president of the New England Motor Press Association and committed to saving both manuals and old Volvos.
