Caution: Legal Road Ends Ahead for Automated Vehicles

It is practically a law of nature: Technology advances more quickly than our legal system can adapt. As we now enter what many call the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), the pace of innovation will only increase, leading to an ever-widening delta between law and technology. Emblematic of the problem created by this legal and regulatory void is the emergence of automated vehicles (AVs) and a more modern transportation system. The advances will improve efficiencies and quality of life, but the real benefit to our society lies in the potential to eliminate the 40,000 deaths in the United States and 1.2 million deaths annually worldwide caused by motor vehicle accidents.