South Florida Injury Lawyer Blawg
It is inevitable that self-driving cars will become more and more popular as time goes on. With this increase will also come an increase in accidents. If you or someone close to you has been injured in a self-driving vehicle or believe that autopilot played a role in your accident, you need to reach out to a skilled Miami car crash attorney without delay. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, we can assess the merits of your case and provide you with an honest assessment of your claim.
Earlier this month, a Tesla in California hit a highway barrier and caught fire, causing hours of closed highway lanes as firefighters tried to ascertain whether it was safe to move the automobile and its damaged lithium-ion battery packs. The driver was killed, and the automobile was badly burned.
The United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) will investigate the post-collision fire and the measures that are needed to make the vehicle safe to remove from the accident scene. At this time, it is unclear whether the Tesla’s partly autonomous driving system, known as Autopilot, was involved at the time of the crash.
Last year, the NTSB determined that Tesla’s autopilot was a contributing factor in a 2016 deadly accident in Florida. The driver had been using the autopilot feature for an extended period of time, and the vehicle failed to stop when a semi-truck made a left turn in front of him.
Despite these accidents involving self-driving cars, Florida is quite lax and has even been trying to attract these vehicles to test on Florida roads. Jeff Brandes, a Florida state senator, has led the local effort to become a hotbed of autonomous vehicles and recently said that he sees no reason to add tougher regulations to self-driving cars. The state already permits carmakers and technology companies to run autonomous cars without a driver, and companies do not have to report issues such as car crashes.
Victims who have been injured in these accidents may be able to recover compensation through a products liability claim against the manufacturer or retailer. If the car malfunctioned due to a design or manufacturing defect, the manufacturer could be held liable through a products liability claim. Products liability lawsuits are designed to hold manufacturers and sellers accountable for any injuries that result from a defective or hazardous product being put into the hands of consumers.
If you succeed in establishing your products liability claim, you can recover a variety of damages, such as present and future medical expenses, disability, lost income, pain and suffering, rehabilitation costs, disfigurement, and any other losses arising from the accident.
If you or someone close to you has been injured or killed in a self-driving automobile, you may be entitled to compensation for your harm. At the Law Offices of Robert Dixon, our Miami car accident attorneys understand how to navigate this new area of law and can apply our knowledge to your case. For more information about your case, call us at 1-877-499-HURT (4878) or reach out to us online today.
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