Technology and the Practice of Law Autonomous Vehicles: Peeking Into Pandora’s Box by Justin S. McLeod “America is at a historic turning point for automotive travel. Motor vehicles and drivers’ relationships with them are likely to change significantly in the next ten to twenty years, perhaps more than they have changed in the last one hundred years.” 1 These advancements in automo-tive technologies will impact court-rooms, law offices, and legislatures throughout the country. This article offers a brief glimpse into the efforts to classify exactly what constitutes an “autonomous vehicle” and then takes a brief sojourn through some legal issues likely to arise as a result of autonomous vehicles’ ascendance. What is an Autonomous Vehicle? Google’s self-driving car, the most publi-cized of any currently being developed, incorporates several systems. Google outfitted the vehicles with an $80,000 roof-mounted, cone shaped laser along with front and rear mounted radar. The sensory technology feeds the computer data while taking advantage of highly-detailed Google maps on board. The National Public Radio (NPR) technology correspondent who reported on this story remarked on the ease at which the vehicle responded to traffic conditions, like the vehicle being cut-off, with aplomb. In fact, the radar’s signals, which bounce off of surfaces, allowed the car to “see” a vehicle in front of an eighteen-wheeler that the human pas-sengers could not. 2 The first problem autonomous vehicles present to state and federal pol-icy makers is one of classification. What is autonomy? When does a vehicle cross the line from a series of augmented con-trol systems to truly driving itself? Several states that are in the process of enacting, or who have enacted, legisla-tion paving the way for testing 52 VIRGINIA LAWYER | February 2014 | Vol. 62 autonomous vehicles have all grappled with defining “autonomous vehicles.” Virtually all states have coalesced around the same definition of vehicular auton-omy, which can be defined as: “a motor vehicle that uses artificial intelligence, sensors and global positioning system coordinates to drive itself without the active intervention of a human opera-tor.” 3 California’s legislators chose to define “autonomous technology” as the technology that has the capability to drive a vehicle without the “active physi-cal control or monitoring by a human operator.” 4 California Senate Bill No. 1298 goes on to define an “autonomous vehicle” as any vehicle “equipped with autonomous technology that has been integrated into that vehicle.” Id . Lastly, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) in its Preliminary Statement of Policy Concerning Automated Vehicles eschews a single overarching definition of autonomous vehicles, but rather views these vehicles in terms of a “continuum” of automation. The NHTSA offers five levels of automation, with vehicle sys-tems ranging from zero (absolutely no automation) to level four (complete automation). 5 The NHTSA discourages states from adopting any specific road regulations applicable to autonomous vehicles in order to give the technology time to develop and mature. The Likely Societal Benefits of Automated Vehicles Developments in automotive technology will likely concentrate upon the ability to eliminate the undoubtedly most danger-ous cog in the automotive system: the human operator. Roughly 90 percent of car accidents result from human error. 6 In addition to the increased safety, there are other possible benefits we can all appreciate: vehicle control systems that accelerate and decelerate with the flow of traffic could reduce fuel consumption and traffic congestion is one. Another benefit is the development of communi-cation between vehicles regarding road conditions and highway infrastructure, thus reducing congestion and traffic accidents. There are also likely economic bene-fits that flow from the ascent of vehicle automation manufacturing. Governor Rick Snyder of Michigan signed a bill in December 2013 allowing the operation of autonomous vehicles on Michigan roads. Snyder declared: “by allowing the testing of automated, driverless cars today, we will stay at the forefront in automotive technological advances . . .” 7 There is hope among many that the new production techniques and develop-ments needed for autonomous vehicle construction would help bolster America’s manufacturing sector, leading to new high-paying career fields. The Legal Ramifications of Autonomous Vehicle Development The impact on the legal industry is spec-ulative at this point, but change is com-ing. According to a 2005 report by the U.S. Justice Department, nine out of ten tort cases in federal district courts were personal injury cases (including motor vehicle claims, product liability, marine, and medical malpractice claims). The elimination of motor vehicle tort claims from federal and state dockets represents a boon for underfunded courts across the country, but also the gradual redun-dancy of many legal industries serving the needs of those involved in car acci-dents and traffic stops. 8 Change would not only be limited to civil torts and insurance law; the ramifications for criminal law and privacy law are multi-www.vsb.org