Autonomous Vehicles, Predictability, and Law

Fully autonomous or "self-driving" automobiles are vehicles "which can drive themselves without human supervision or input."  They are likely to become an increasing presence in our physical environment in the 5 - 15 year time frame. 

Today people share a physical environment with moving machines that are controlled by other people but have freedom of movement (e.g. automobiles), or that are automated but highly constrained in their range of movement (e.g. elevators).   The movements of these machines tend to be broadly predictable.  With autonomous vehicles, for the first time, people will be sharing a physical environment with computer-controlled moving machines that can direct their own activities and also have considerable freedom of movement.  

How predictable will the movements of autonomous vehicles be to the ordinary people - the pedestrians, drivers, and cyclists -- who encounter them on roads, at intersections, and in crosswalks – and to what extent should the law be involved in fostering design to make them more predictable?

Speaker: Harry Surden, Associate Professor of Law, University of Colorado Law School

Room: 290