Why Driverless Cars Are 'Probably' Legal

We've said it before and we'll say it again: a world with driverless cars isn't that far off. Europeans have been exploring driverless platoons called "road trains" as the future of car commuting. Computer scientists are thinking about how to reconfigure intersections and traffic lights to make driverless city driving more efficient. American cities may soon compete to build driverless infrastructure.

So the biggest roadblock facing a driverless world isn't necessarily technology, but legality. The question of who would be liable in the event of an accident — the human "driver," the car's owner, the manufacturer — remains an open and deferred one. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that only three state legislatures have weighed in on the matter. Only one, Nevada, has given driverless cars the legal green light, and even then only for testing purposes.