Recently, the first semi-truck to be legally driven on an American highway arrived at its destination. We are on the edge of a new age of transportation in the US and worldwide. We can only speculate about how it will affect safety over time, but there will undoubtedly be an impact.
Tyler Fleck represents vehicle accident victims. Driver errors often cause them, but a government entity responsible for a road may design or maintain it improperly, or a defective vehicle part may be to blame. Increasingly, injuries and deaths on American roadways will be caused by faulty or inadequate hardware or software used by autonomous vehicles.
There is no lack of intoxicated, distracted, fatigued, and unsafe humans driving vehicles. If they’re being replaced, we should celebrate. However, we don’t yet know if their computerized replacements will have problems that are just as severe, if not worse, than those of their human counterparts.
Human Drivers are Being Replaced Because Computer Drivers May Be Cheaper
Aurora Innovation of Pittsburgh, PA, became the country’s first company to operate a driverless semi-truck on an American highway in April. It traveled on Interstate 45 in Texas, possibly marking the start of a new era that could transform how cargo moves across the country, according to The New York Times. The company has two autonomous trucks on Texas interstates so far.
One of the main reasons companies find human-free trucks attractive is that there’s no need to have humans in them. No person needs to stop to eat, use a bathroom, park, or sleep. Trucking companies need not be concerned about drivers having health conditions that may render them unfit to drive.
Without a driver who needs limits on their time driving, the truck could potentially continue to travel until stopping for fuel, maintenance, or repairs is necessary. There would be no truck driver road rage nor would they waste fuel. One of Aurora’s trucks had driven more than 1,000 driverless miles by the time the article was written in April. It features nearly 360-degree sensors that can detect objects up to 1,000 feet away.
Trucking companies complain about a lack of drivers as a main reason for these developments. It’s supply and demand. When trucking was regulated, truck driving jobs were difficult to get, but once you got one, it was a well-paying, often unionized, blue-collar job with benefits.
With regulation came the federal government dictating trucking routes and loads, making it a less efficient system. After deregulation in 1980, any trucking company could compete for loads. Competition for customers could be cutthroat, so costs were cut and pay suffered. As pay for a challenging job declined, fewer people were willing to do it.
Autonomous Trucks Offer a Lot of Promise and Bring With Them a Lot of Potential Danger
The Times quoted one safety expert as stating federal oversight of these trucks is “totally inadequate” and new technology is being used on open roads with “alarming” speed. A veteran truck driver called it “scary.”
These test trucks are currently driven during the day in good weather. Real-world commercial trucks operate all day and night in all but the worst weather. Traffic patterns and other drivers are unpredictable. Sudden congestion on a highway could be a fatal accident waiting to happen.
Another issue is how a truck might respond after it’s involved in a crash:
- Would the computer running it recognize that a collision had occurred?
- If a semi-truck just causes a glancing blow to a pedestrian, it may cause fatal injuries. Would the truck realize that?
- Would the truck or someone else contact 911, or would it just continue on its way?
- Could a company’s truck be guilty of hit and run? Could the truck’s owner be convicted of manslaughter if the truck kills someone?
The dangers posed by autonomous semi-trucks are far greater than those of driverless cars:
- While a passenger vehicle may weigh a couple of tons, a fully loaded semi-truck may weigh 40 tons. As a result, an accident involving a commercial truck and a personal vehicle will likely cause deaths and severe injuries to those inside the vehicle
- On dry pavement at highway speeds, a commercial truck may need a roadway as long as a football field to stop completely. Depending on its speed and whether the road is covered in water, ice, or snow, the required distance may be significantly longer
- Trucks often carry loads that are toxic, flammable, and potentially explosive. They pose a threat not just to nearby vehicles, but to communities where they might crash
John Samuelsen, head of the Transport Workers Union of America, is quoted by the Times as warning us that robot trucks are coming, whether we’re ready or not, “Like a freaking Corvette — doing zero to 60.”
Contact Us Today
If you have any questions or want to discuss compensation with an attorney for injuries you suffered in an accident caused by a vehicle with or without a driver, call The Fleck Firm at (270) 446-7000 today. Insurance companies have lawyers. You should have one, too.
