Truck accidents: Does the answer lie in driverless trucks?

Those who stand behind self-driving vehicles promise that such vehicles will help reduce emissions, reduce the number of deaths from fatal vehicle accidents, boost productivity and much more. Unfortunately, there’s another effect that some people just can’t seem to accept. What about all the jobs that will lost if self-driving cars become the norm? What about all of the commercial drivers who would be without a job if there were driverless trucks?

The most common occupation in 29 states is truck driver, according to a National Public Radio study. If you include taxi drivers and bus drivers with the 1.7 million truck drivers in the U.S., there are 8 million people in this country who earn their living driving.

A man who is the chief executive officer and founder of a company that develops software for automating different trucking functions believes that many blue collar jobs will disappear because of driverless vehicles. He believes that society will eventually get to a point where people don’t work. However, he doesn’t believe that will happen all at once, and he believes that trucks will be the last vehicles that are automated because of the difficulties navigating cities, the complexity of a separated trailer and tractor, and the sheer size.

The director of a semi truck driving academy in Indianapolis believes that it will be between 15 and 20 years before trucks are autonomous and he believes that drivers will still have a seat in the cab.

Some of the concerns that will have to be dealt with no matter what type of vehicle becomes driverless are the ethical, liability and security issues. The liability question alone will take years to work through the courts. Security issues will also pose a problem as hackers could see trucks as targets.

Until such time as driverless vehicles become part of our roadways, traffic accidents will still be a danger. At The Law Offices of Locklin & Coleman, PLLC, we will continue to represent those who are victims of truck and car accidents, as well as other victims of personal injuries. If you want more information on how we can help you pursue compensation from the at-fault driver, take a few moments to look at our webpages.