Technology has changed the landscape of dozens of industries over the past decade. Many of those industries will never be the same. Personal injury law and personal injury attorneys are facing an overhaul in the face of yet another technological revolution.
Personal injury lawyers are going to see a dramatic shift in their business as driverless cars reduce or eliminate the role of human error in car accidents. As their business shifts, so too must personal injury law as legal experts and law-makers must consider new approaches to liability.
Statistically, it is estimated that 90 percent of fatal crashes are the result of human error. This finding has been a huge catalyst for the development and production of driverless cars. Many believe that the advent of a self-driving vehicle will make the roads much safer. This impending invention has many personal injury attorneys wondering if the need for their services will see a reduction.
Others aren’t quite as pessimistic and are already working with lawmakers to consider and prepare for the significant changes a driverless car will present from a liability standpoint. A new environment will not only include the legalization of self-driving vehicles, but must also assign accident liability and adjust insurance regulations.
Furthermore, the legal landscape may also see a new facet of practice develop. Robotics law, or the law of robotics and artificial intelligence, a rapidly growing and popular sector, will require the creation of laws and regulations, and the interpretation of those laws.
While many are eagerly anticipating the changes in personal injury law with the release of driverless cars, there is yet another technology that is readily available to the general population that has created a stir in personal privacy, public safety and aviation law. The catalyst of this uproar, the drone.
It is extremely clear that technology has improve our lives over the years. But as is often the case with technological development, a handful of new changes come to the light that must be addressed. From a legal standpoint, a new era of technology will be creating a new era of legal practice, and there is much interest in the law’s reaction to these inventions.
