Trial Magazine

For my 50th birthday, my husband gave me a used two-seater convertible. One of my favorite pastimes is driving that car, blasting and singing along to ’70s music that embarrasses my children.

I write about this because it highlights what driving means to me. It’s a wonderful memory with my husband and kids and a reliable way to get where I need to be. I find it hard to believe the day could come when we won’t drive our own cars, but technology may be advancing to that point sooner than we think.

Driverless vehicles are currently being tested on many U.S. roadways. General Motors tried them out with their employees in San Francisco. Uber is testing driverless cars in Pittsburgh and parts of Arizona. Las Vegas teamed up with the American Automobile Association to run a driverless shuttle for the city’s never-ending stream of visitors. The list goes on as more companies look to expand into this burgeoning market.

It’s safe to say we may be reaching a new frontier in transportation technology—“safe” being a key word here. This month’s issue of Trial explores dangers on the road, with practical tips for handling trucking cases (p. 22), guidance on retrieving vehicle electronic crash data (p. 34), and some of the hazards of recreational vehicles (p. 39). And driverless vehicles raise safety issues we haven’t dealt with before and will significantly impact how many of us represent our clients (p. 28).

Current state and federal laws regulating motor vehicles were specifically designed with human drivers in mind. If they are removed from the equation, these laws will need to be reassessed.

Even if you don’t handle products liability cases or represent people injured or killed in motor vehicle collisions, driverless cars are still of major importance to your practice as we delve into the regulatory landscape surrounding them. Current state and federal laws regulating motor vehicles were specifically designed with human drivers in mind. If they are removed from the equation, these laws will need to be reassessed. While more than 35 states have begun debating legislation addressing this issue, current proposed federal legislation would preempt a state’s ability to regulate the performance and design of driverless cars.

It is critical that the safety net provided by our civil justice system, made up of state common and statutory laws, is specifically and explicitly preserved to protect people on the road. The current bill before Congress will preserve these protections, but in this ever-changing legislative environment, constant vigilance is necessary to ensure they remain.

AAJ State Affairs is working closely with state trial lawyer associations to ensure every state has the resources and expertise it needs, and AAJ Public Affairs is on Capitol Hill and in the agencies working diligently to maintain access to the same remedies for motor vehicle victims—regardless of whether a driver is behind the wheel.

For many of us, myself included, the topic of driverless cars may seem ­overwhelming or out of our area. I encourage each of you to learn as much as you can and to take advantage of AAJ Education programs at the upcoming conventions in Maui (Feb. 3–6) and Denver (July 7–10) and other resources such as webinars that will be announced soon. I promise this issue is not going away and will impact your practice.

Kathleen Nastri is an attorney at Koskoff, Koskoff & Bieder in Bridgeport, Conn. She can be reached at kathleen.nastri@justice.org.