When accidents occur involving self driving vehicles, people injured may not have a claim against the human driver, and access to compensation under the traditional CTP compensation scheme may not be available.
Therefore, people injured in accidents caused by defective automated driving systems may need to look elsewhere for sources of compensation.
There are laws that enable claims for compensation to be made against manufacturers and sellers of defective products. These laws provide a framework for injured people to recover compensation for injuries, in circumstances where the CTP scheme of compensation does not respond to a claim.
Product liability claims for defective vehicles are often brought in claims for negligence and for breach of contract, depending on the nature of the defect and the method of sale of the defective vehicle.
But there is one thing that is for certain, and that is as automated driving systems assume greater responsibility for driving, the proportion of accidents caused by the failure of a human driver to take proper care will reduce, and the proportion of accidents caused by deficiencies in a car’s automated driving system will rise.
