Redundant bill (left lane hogging)?

While it does seem inevitable, I'm more interested in the liability obstacle than technology one. If I own an automated vehicle, and I have zero control over how it functions, how can I be liable for a "mistake" that occurs? Is the manufacturer going to own the liability? a government agency? Or is damage that occurs just going to be something that we are forced to accept because the system is still *better* than a previous system in terms of overall reduction of cost? What is an acceptable level of random casualties? random property damage?

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS

 

That's funny, that video isn't the best one to insert for the narrator to make his point. Knowing how some people drive, it wouldn't surprise me if that pickup driver only decided to speed up when he saw the car try to come up on his right. This made the car driver hot (and definitely primarily in the wrong here, to be clear). While passing on the left lane emergency lane area is incredibly risky, it would be nuts to consider the pickup truck driver not partially responsible for that incident. Why? Defensive driving would have you slow down as soon as you see a nut trying to pass you in that emergency lane to reduce the overall risk of collision. Anything other than slowing down in that situation is ego-related. No doubt the car driver would be primarily at fault, but in the world of "is there anything reasonable you could have done to avoid that collision?" The answer is whole-heartedly: YES (for the pickup driver)!

I was driving a friend's vehicle on a road trip one time, many years ago. Had the cruise control on in the hilly area of north Tennessee (I-75), on a our way to a Kentucky football game, barely any traffic out, this was late at night. there was a small car way in front of me very slowly passing a huge semi truck. From a distance, I flashed my brights to request a more quicker passing of the car in the left lane or a decision to let me pass first and they pass after. Whatever, at this point, it was just a request. As I got closer, I was not able to disengage the cruise control by pressing the brake pedal. Since I was driving my friend's car, I was not entirely aware of the options on the steering wheel to toggle off cruise control. I fully acknowledge that it was my mistake to not know the other way to disengage the cruise control, but I had never encountered this type of situation before (where pressing the brake wouldn't shut it off). The action was coming up quick, and my only option was to pass them on the left in an emergency passing area to avoid any kind of collision. They could have gotten haughty about it, and took it as some kind of challenge, but they did the safest thing possible, they moved over slightly in their lane (closer to the truck) to give me just a little more clearance to pass them. Everybody in the car was quiet for a few seconds, and then we went on about our business. It was no big deal, ultimately. You never know why somebody is doing the thing they are doing in the other vehicle. First class maneuver by the car that we passed, and a huge learning experience for me in several areas (speed, mountain/hilly driving, cruise control, courtesy vs. rage).

Go GATORS!
,WESGATORS