Keywords
Autonomous vehicles, self-driving cars
Abstract
Today’s world is full of promising yet controversial new technologies. Large Language Models (LLMs), such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, have both promised fantastic results and generated a range of critiques. Quantum computing claims to be able to complete computations that would take traditional computers, even supercomputers, longer than the lifespan of the universe to complete. With such advancements, the future dreamed of in science fiction stories of the twentieth century seems to be becoming reality. Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) are another notable technology, which promise to ultimately remove any human responsibility, and hence any human error, from the process of driving a car. The benefits of AVs are multifaceted and include dramatically reducing the dangerousness of using cars as well as improving the efficiency of traveling. However, like many other technological advancements, AVs bring a host of problems and dilemmas with them.
This Note explains the main challenges that AVs will face as they are developed and implemented into society and recommends legal solutions to meet those challenges, thereby promoting the successful implementation of AVs. The challenges that will be considered in this Note are those that are either a mixture of technical and legal or entirely legal. Some problems, such as the need for robust cybersecurity in AVs, are inherently technical in nature despite their legal aspects. Others, such as questions of liability in the case of crashes, fall more squarely into the legal bucket. This Note will examine these two categories of challenges and suggest a robust framework of adaptations, decisions, and updates that the legal system should undertake to promote the successful and safe rollout of AVs. In particular, this Note will stress the importance of a strong federal response to ensure the ease of adaptation for manufacturers, maximize the quality of engineering efforts, and promote the safest and most effective AV system possible.
Recommended Citation
Timothy Buff,
Driving Together: The Necessity of a Comprehensive Federal Response for the Success of Autonomous Vehicles,
36 Fordham Intell. Prop. Media & Ent. L.J. 258
(2025).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/iplj/vol36/iss1/5