The first question most people ask about a driverless taxi is whether they would be willing to ride in one. But I think there's a better question: If you're injured inside one, whom do you hold accountable?That question stopped being hypothetical when federal regulators approved Zoox's steering-wheel-free robotaxi for commercial deployment late last month. Soon, people in Las Vegas will be able to pay for a ride in a vehicle with no driver's seat, no steering wheel and, eventually, no pedals. Whether you see that as remarkable progress or an uncomfortable experiment probably depends on how much you trust technology. Every generation gets a transportation breakthrough that promises to make travel safer. Seat belts, airbags, anti-lock brakes — many of those innovations have saved lives, and I hope autonomous vehicles eventually do the same. But every new technology also creates new questions about responsibility. AdvertisementAdvertisementThose questions don't disappear simply because a computer is driving instead of a person. One thing I have learned after years representing injured New Yorkers is that the first explanation after a crash is almost never the complete story. People jump to conclusions. Companies issue statements. News reports fill in what they know at the time. Then the evidence starts telling its own story. That's going to be especially true with autonomous vehicles. After an ordinary collision, investigators look at familiar questions. Who had the green light? Was someone speeding? Was the driver distracted? Did someone fail to yield?AdvertisementAdvertisementA robotaxi changes that conversation. Now investigators may be asking whether a sensor failed to recognize a pedestrian; whether software misidentified an obstacle; whether a system update introduced an unexpected problem; whether the vehicle responded appropriately to changing traffic conditions; whether the company knew about a recurring issue before the collision ever happened.Those aren't engineering questions alone. They are accountability questions. One of the biggest mistakes I think people will make is assuming the vehicle itself already has all the answers. It doesn't. Every serious injury case begins with evidence, and evidence has to be preserved.For decades that meant photographs, skid marks, witness statements, vehicle inspections and police reports. Those things will still matter, but autonomous vehicles add another layer that most passengers will never see: camera recordings, sensor data, software logs, system diagnostics and electronic records showing what the vehicle detected and how it responded in the seconds before a crash. AdvertisementAdvertisementThat information could prove critical. It could also become much harder to obtain if no one acts quickly to preserve it.There is another misconception that is worth clearing up. Federal approval is not the same thing as a guarantee of safety.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved Zoox's commercial deployment after determining it met federal safety requirements. That is an important milestone, but it's not a promise that every vehicle will perform flawlessly under every circumstance. Regulators themselves recognized that by requiring additional reporting of crashes and certain safety-related incidents as these vehicles begin operating on public roads. We have seen this before. AdvertisementAdvertisementEvery major advance in transportation has been followed by real-world lessons that engineers couldn't fully replicate in testing. That's not a criticism of innovation. It's simply how innovation works. The law evolves the same way. Courts don't decide whether a technology is exciting. They decide whether someone exercised reasonable care. They decide whether warnings were adequate. They decide whether a preventable injury could have been avoided.Those principles haven't changed for more than a century, and they shouldn't change because the steering wheel disappeared. I suspect autonomous vehicles will become part of everyday life sooner than many people expect. If they ultimately reduce crashes caused by distracted or impaired drivers, that will be good news for everyone. AdvertisementAdvertisementBut as consumers, we shouldn't confuse innovation with immunity. Companies introducing revolutionary technology still have a responsibility to make it as safe as reasonably possible. And when something goes wrong, injured passengers still have the right to ask difficult questions, demand evidence and seek accountability. The vehicle may be driving itself. That doesn't mean responsibility drives away with it. Billy Cooper, Esq., represents clients in serious personal and catastrophic injury matters, including motor vehicle and Uber-Lyft accidents and complex liability cases.Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
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