Subrogating Automated Driving Systems And Autonomous Vehicle Failures

Imagine beginning your day with a cup of coffee in the car on the way to work, watching the morning news from a holographic projection on the windshield while making notes in preparation for a 9:00 a.m. meeting.

All this while your car follows a preset route, automatically changes lanes to avoid slower vehicles, after having driven your children to school.

Your vehicle’s information system reminds you of your day’s agenda and turns on the crockpot at home while the car looks for a best place to park.

After the car parks itself, you leave it without locking it with a key; the car will unlock itself when sensing your biometric identification around and will even pull around and pick you up in front of your office.

Everything works well and the daily commute to and from work becomes ideal—until it isn’t. When catastrophic claims are paid as a result of a traffic accident resulting from a failure of an automated driving system (ADS) and subrogation enters the picture, it is no longer a simple question of who had the right-of-way and who failed to yield.