How One Self-Driving Car Problem Could Lead to Deadly Truck Accidents

TEXAS. Truck underride collisions are particularly deadly. According to NPR, underride collisions occur when a car rear-ends a truck and ends up getting lodged under the trailer bed. NPR reports that underride collisions are the deadliest accidents on the road. The accidents often lead to decapitations and deaths because the passenger compartment of the vehicle often gets cut off in these types of crashes.

This is a major problem for researchers looking to put self-driving trucks on the road. According to Wired, one of the problems with artificially driven cars that researchers are trying to solve involves a tendency of human drivers to rear-end autonomous vehicles. When Wired looked at collision reports of self-driving vehicles in California, the data revealed that in 28 of 49 self-driving accident reports (many of which were minor crashes), the cause of accident was rear-end collision. Under the law, the person at fault in most rear-end collisions is often the driver in the rear. But, Wired asks whether self-driving cars might be behaving in ways that might make them difficult for human drivers behind them to predict. Self-driving cars have a tendency to stop out of an abundance of caution, but they may be stopping in situations where other drivers don’t expect them to stop, which could be contributing to these kinds of crashes. When it comes to slow-moving traffic in cities, or accidents involving passenger vehicles, these accidents might be minor. But when it comes to self-driving trucks where the risk for underride accidents might be higher, developers need to show an abundance of caution before permitting these vehicles to be tested on the roads.

A truck’s underride guards are designed to prevent cars from sliding underneath the truck in a crash, but underride guards don’t always work. Furthermore, trucks are not required to have side-impact guards. Cars can slide underneath trucks on the side as well as from behind.

Before autonomous trucks can be permitted on the roads, safety experts need to consider all the ways accidents could potentially occur. A truck suddenly stopping in traffic can have far greater consequences than a passenger vehicle suddenly coming to a complete stop. Will autonomous trucks be required to have side underride guards as well as rear underride guards?

Good driving involves more than just avoiding collisions at all costs. Wired notes that good driving also involves driving in a manner that allows other drivers on the road to predict your behavior and react accordingly. Driving is a complex process and some of the aspects of driving that cannot be easily replicated by a computer involve the aspects of driving that involve social interaction. Think about the driver waving a pedestrian across in a parking lot or a driver making eye-contact with another driver at a four-way stop. These are subtle driving behaviors that cannot be replicated by a computer.

We are likely years away from autonomous trucks. However, there are things the truck industry can do right now to make trucks safer—and this includes putting side underride guards on trucks. Have you been hurt in a truck accident? Has a loved one been injured in a semi-truck wreck? The Cooper Law Firm are truck accident lawyers in Texas who work closely with victims and families whose lives have been impacted by these crashes. If you or a loved one was hurt in a crash, you may be entitled to seek damages for your medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Visit our firm at https://www.cooper-law-firm.com/ to learn more.

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