[CM30]

I think there are a few things to consider here.

First, when a human screws up, it's obvious who takes the blame for the mistake. If an autonomous vehicle does, who pays the fine/goes the prison? Putting the blame on the owner feels like it takes away a lot of the incentives to buy a autonomous vehicle, but I suspect the companies making these things don't want to be the ones paying out for their mistakes, and will probably lobby to prevent it if possible.

Secondly, this isn't just a vehicle thing, it's a technology thing in general. For better or worse, the expectations for safety and security are much higher for new devices than they are for existing ones, or for manual human driven solutions. Some of this is definitely driven or inspired by vested interests (like how pollution and safety regulations for renewable energy sources and nuclear plants are higher than for coal/gas power plants, despite the latter being worse in almost every way), but a lot of it is just humans being deeply skeptical of new tech and major social changes, even if the benefits of the new system clearly outweigh those of the existing one.

[Schiendelman]

We don't usually fine people or send them to prison for mistakes, especially when driving cars. Insurance companies figure this out between each other.

[CM30]

Depends how serious the consequences are. A normal scrape which doesn't damage either car much or cause any real injury? That's something for insurance companies to figure out. A major accident that kills or seriously injures someone (especially due to drunk or distracted driving)? Someone's probably getting a hefty fine and points on their license at minimal, more likely prison.

If a self-driving car gets into an accident that kills a pedestrian or other driver, someone's going to have to take responsibility for that.

[xnx]

> due to drunk or distracted driving)? Someone's probably getting a hefty fine and points on their license at minimal, more likely prison.

In the US, killing someone with your car while being drunk and driving twice the speed limit gets you 10 days in jail: "10 Days for Bobby Cann’s Killer, a Repeat Drunk Driver, Is an Insult" (https://chi.streetsblog.org/2017/01/27/10-day-sentence-for-b...)

[clemailacct1]

Is this sarcasm?

Bad drivers absolutely get fines and jail time for speeding, DUIs, etc.

[Schiendelman]

Speeding and DUIs aren't mistakes, they're choices. There's a huge difference between the errors self-driving cars make and the equivalent errors humans make: the self-driving cars simply don't make those mistakes. In the category of things that self-driving cars do, insurance overwhelming handles those mistakes in both human and self-driving cases.