Volvo Will Assume All Legal Liability For Autonomous Cars

Volvo logo (Credit: Volvo)

Volvo is stepping up in a big way when it comes to autonomous vehicle technology, saying it will assume all legal liability for its own cars if they are proven to be the cause of crashes. It’s a gutsy and necessary move by a company that has a stellar reputation for safety.

This announcement comes at a time when Volvo is petitioning the United States government to take decisive and progressive legal actions to help secure the adoption of autonomous drive technology. Hakan Samuelsson, who is the president and CEO of Volvo Cars, told lawmakers in Washington, D.C. that Europe dropped the ball by not setting up guidelines for the testing and certification of autonomous cars. He blamed that fact for a delay in getting the technology on European roads.

So far, only a handful of states even allow the testing of autonomous vehicle technology on public roads. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has just barely started addressing the topic. Samuelsson said that this lack of federal oversight could mean that the Unites States slips from its top spot in the world when it comes to autonomous drive tech. He emphasized the lawmakers and policymakers don’t understand how quickly the technology is coming, thinking they have years to mull over the topic before making decisions.

One of the biggest challenges that automakers say they face is the different roadway signs and markings among the different states in the U.S. Such variations make it difficult for the cars to navigate streets competently.

Another risk with self-driving cars is hackers. As of right now, no legal framework has been set up to deal with vehicle hacking and assign fault for an accident triggered by it. Volvo officially views hacking as a criminal offense and believes lawmakers should as well. He pointed out that legally nobody blames Apple or Microsoft if a hacker breaks into computers or other devices, which is why automakers shouldn’t be liable either.