[ExI] fuel economy vs danger

[Adrian Tymes]

--- On Sun, 4/4/10, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:
> I could imagine highway lawsuit lottery players going
> around looking for
> cars driving themselves, then intentionally pulling over
> into them.  Two
> lottery players working together, one on either side,
> smashing the
> self-driver.  Then they would argue that a human
> driver would have
> successfully avoided the accident, but if the manufacturer
> were to pay
> generously this could all go away.

Counter: black boxes, similar to what Toyota has in its
Priuses today.  Note that one recent high profile case
who claimed to have a runaway Prius...until the black box
testified that the "stuck" accelerator was actually being
pressed, alternating with the brake pedal, over 250 times
in rapid succession.  Likewise here: the car wasn't doing
anything; the other guys smashed into it.  Might a human
driver have avoided it?  Doesn't make the pair who
smashed into it any less responsible - and thus, any less
on the hook for paying for damages/going to jail/etc.
The manufacturer, if anything, is the plaintiff in these
cases.