[SllX]

Individual humans can be arrested. The exact people found in violation can be held accountable on the spot in a manner that is proportionate and scales to exactly the responsible parties.

What are you supposed to do with a car with no humans around causing a problem for people? Key it? Break the windshield? Wait around for a tow truck to move it? Revoke an entire fleet’s license to drive in the State of California over a specific incident in San Francisco? Or wait until the fleet has tallied up enough incidents for the State to say “that’s enough”?

We probably do have to validate driverless vehicles to a higher standard than the average driver, and maybe a higher standard than the best drivers. We want correctness and accountability, because driverless or manned, an automobile mishandled is a death trap.

EDIT: How about this? The State can pass a law that gives immunity to anyone who breaks into a misbehaving unmanned autonomous car in order to disable the autonomy and take control of it and move it out of the way. No, I wouldn’t limit this to emergency personnel either. Anyone with a Driver’s License can do it. Cruise and Waymo can then decide whether to make this process easier or they can replace a lot of broken windows.

[petre]

> The State can pass a law that gives immunity to anyone who breaks into a misbehaving unmanned autonomous car in order to disable the autonomy and take control of it

What do you do with vehicles without human controls? Mandate human controls?

[SllX]

Are those a thing yet? Like not just a prototype, but in service and on the road? But yes, probably, at least for the foreseeable future.