“Your Honor, the Car Crashed Itself”: Navigating Autonomous Vehicle Liability in an Age of Innovation

Abstract

Autonomous vehicles are increasingly permeating the consumer marketplace. This trend has caused a conundrum in tort liability law. It is standard in product liability law for manufacturers to be held strictly liable for defective products, but there is a gray area when autonomous vehicles are involved in car accidents due to defects. This Article dissects various proposals concerning how the legal system should proceed regarding autonomous vehicle liability. This Article also advocates for federal regulation to define the legal personhood of autonomous vehicles in the eyes of the law.