Well, software that controls a car is a new thing.
So I would imagine that it hasn't really been regulated yet in most jurisdictions. For some reason we have a tendency to write laws so that they are specific to individual things rather than general and future prof laws.
Software in cars is not "a new thing". Safety has increased immeasurably in cars over the last few decades, in no small part due to software. Complexity and opacity are a problem, but cars are much safer and more efficient today due in large part to software. I don't think that would have happened if there was some regulatory committee in place to audit the software for safety. We have liability for that, a much better model than a regulatory one.
> However, as the importance of electronics and software has grown, so has complexity. Take the exploding number of software lines of code (SLOC) contained in modern cars as an example. In 2010, some vehicles had about ten million SLOC; by 2016, this expanded by a factor of 15, to roughly 150 million lines. Snowballing complexity is causing significant software-related quality issues, as evidenced by millions of recent vehicle recalls.
I don’t get why it’s not covered under existing laws, clearly every vehicle has to be operated by a driver with a valid license correct? You would think letting a vehicle drive without a licensed operator at the wheel would be negligence.
I agree, but when it came to bullying the anti bullying laws apparently didn't cover online bullying which didn't really make sense to me.
So I assume that this is a case of the person in the drivers seat must have a drivers license, but there is no law saying how much of the driving they must do.
Nobody is doing that. In the locales where truly autonomous vehicles are being tested, it’s happening under specific legislation and regulations put in place by the states. For Tesla, behind all their bluster, the terms and conditions you accept to use their “self-driving” features make it clear that the human driver is always responsible for safe operation of the car, and all of these features are just to assist the human driver.
Kinda hard to square that with a product called "Full Self Driving". Terms of service are generally worthless as a legal shield against catastrophic harm to customers.
Unless you're driving a Flintstones car, much of the driving you do in any modern car is done by software. From fuel injection, to power steering to anti-lock breaks
