Interesting article on car maker's lability if you didn't buy a safety option

Looks to me like the case thus far is about having enough legal standing to go to trial to determine if there's any amount of liability the automaker is responsible for, rather than actually ruling that the automaker is liable for something that was not yet required by law. And just because they earned legal standing to go to trial, doesn't mean the car makers liability is yet certain.

But clearly, it sends the message that advanced safety features are not a very smart thing to upsell with and if you have a way to make your product safer you're kinda dumb to only give that feature to those willing to pay way more than someone who can't afford it.

 

I almost skipped the 2010 (Gen 3) Prius because TSSP would cost an extra $10,000 for both the package and trim upgrade.

I had to pay extra for AutoPilot in 2019 but today, it is standard on all Tesla.

Bob Wilson

 

Sow the wind....
Reap the whirlwind.
Would Joint/Several liability play a role?

52 states.
52 liability flavors.
OEMs sell cars in ALL of them.......
(see CARB)

As firearms manufacturers recently found out, all you gotta do is wiggle that first brick loose....

When does the law of diminishing returns kick in?

Some of us may have driven or ridden in cars without seatbelts.
No.
Not I mean cars that NEVER HAD OEM seat-belts.

Want to know why cars prices are outpacing inflation?
Two reasons:
1. Lawyers.
B. Humans SUCK at long term risk assessment (see: Tobacco sales, Credit card use, COVID mitigation, etc....)

That means that sometime in a far-off future one might imagine a time where it's not just insane pricing that serves as a barrier to affordable cars.
If we review COVID risk assessment matrices....when will it be mandatory to remove the steering wheel and pedals from all privately owned passenger cars?
Wouldn't it be easier to just skip to the last chapter and outlaw all privately owned cars?

FWIW?
I don't think that we will get all the way to full blown dystopia in car safety features or outlaw cars anytime soon, and I DO NOT MIND the government mandating safety features....or slip-and-fall lawyers going after the OEMs.

Just remember that you're playing with a loaded gun.....

 

No.

All of that is madness.

We have insurance for this reason. People who are professionals at assessing long term risk. The difference in risk between the low-option car and the new every-option car should be priced into the liability premiums.

 

A Full Self Driving tester, we are close. I’m seeing fewer ‘grab the steering’ events.

Bob Wilson

 

But the legal question of ensuring the level of personal safety/risk of death as a range of price points needs to be clarified via personal injury litigation. The question of due diligence to prevent personal injury as something that you get more or less of depending on how much you pay probably has a meaningful legal precedent worth building on or this lawsuit wouldn't of been allowed to go to trial.