Autonomous Boats In Personal Injury Accidents
AI, or artificial intelligence, has led to chatbots that can answer questions, cars that can drive themselves, and even boats that are completely manned by AI. With the rise of this new and exciting technology comes possible issues. As a personal injury lawyer can share, the number one question on attorney’s minds nowadays is: what does AI mean for the future of boating injury cases?
Liability
A personal injury is any injury that a person sustains due to the negligence of someone else. For example, there is a wet spot on the floor at the grocery store. An employee should put up a caution sign alerting customers to the danger. However, that employee forgets to do so. A person slips in the water, falls, and breaks their arm. The liability lies with the employee who forgot the sign as well as the store that was not properly monitoring their clean up procedures. Fault is easy to determine in this instance.
But, what about a boat that is driving itself? Who is at fault in that scenario? Just like in a typical personal injury case, the fault lies up the entire chain of command. If a single employee is in charge of monitoring the boat to ensure it does not crash into others, they are at fault. If the company they work for is not properly watching over their employees and boats, the company is at fault. In fact, even a manufacturer can be held liable if there is a defect in the technology that led to the accident and subsequent injury.
Do not worry, if you have been injured due to an autonomous boat accident, there are still parties that will be found at fault that will owe you compensation for your injury as our friends at Cohen & Cohen can share.
Insurance
In car accident cases, insurance normally covers the accident whether it is your insurance or the other party’s insurance depending upon who was at fault, what kind of accident occurred, and what kind of insurance coverage everyone has. However, you might be unsure of coverage with regards to an autonomous boat accident.
Insurance laws and regulations are changing with the times just as the technology does. Currently, however, many policies do not offer coverage for these types of boating accidents. More providers are starting to offer specialized policies in this area.
This also means that filing an insurance claim can be tricky with all the different factors involved: who is actually at fault in this accident, what coverage do all parties have, and are these types of accidents included in the insurance coverage.
That is why it is best to seek legal help in these situations. A personal injury attorney works diligently to keep up with the ever-changing legal landscape around injury-related incidents. They will be able to help steer you in the proper direction for your case by establishing who is at fault and who owes you compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and even emotional suffering caused by the incident. If you have been involved in an accident with an autonomous boat, contact a lawyer near you for help immediately on your case.