Drone accidents and liability – where do we stand?

In the same way there are a lot of unanswered questions over the liability and indemnity for autonomous vehicles, the same questions are also plaguing the growing use of drones.

You can buy outdoor drones and use them with barely any restrictions, but let’s face it; they can be dangerous and are known to come down unexpectedly or end up out of control.

With companies like Amazon wanting to use them for delivering parcels, we can safely say that the insurance and liability ought to rest with them; but what about the drones being used for personal use causing someone some serious damages?
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First pedestrian killed by a self-driving car

Given there are clearly a number of outstanding safety issues and concerns over autonomous and self-drive cars, we have done a number of blogs about them in recent weeks and months.

Although there have been several accidents involving self-drive cars so far, we now have the first incident of a pedestrian killed by a self-drive car as well.

A self-drive Uber SUV that was in autonomous mode reportedly struck a 49-year-old woman earlier this week, fatally injuring her. The incident has once against called in to question the safety of self-drive vehicles that our own government are pushing to be on our roads in the next few years.
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Self-driving vehicles and legal claims for compensation

In the next few years, the government wants autonomous vehicles – including self-driving lorries – on Britain’s roads. The problem is what happens when there is an accident, as well as how accidents can be stopped when a vehicle is essentially being controlled by a potentially fallible computer.

There have already been a number of incidents and fatalities with self-drive vehicles involved, so how can we be assured that they’re completely safe on our roads? If something does go wrong, how do we nail who is liable between a “driver” who may still be in the seat, and the manufacturer.
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Driverless vehicles to be on UK roads by 2021

With the exponential growth in technology, we’re only a few steps away from seeing autonomous cars on our roads. Transport Sectary Chris Grayling announced that we can expect driverless vehicles to be in-use on British roads in just over three years.

Grayling revels the phenomenon as a revolution in driving; something that will be welcomed by technology enthusiasts as well as the disabled and elderly.
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Ford to begin producing their own self-driving cars

In a statement: “Ford today announces its intent to have a high-volume, fully autonomous SAE level 4-capable vehicle in commercial operation in 2021 in a ride-hailing or ride-sharing service”.

CEO Mark Fields explains level4-capable vehicles to be fully automated: “no steering wheel, no gas pedal, no brake pedal, driver not required.”

With road accidents already so common on British roads, do we need to welcome driverless vehicles, or worry about what could go wrong?
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Are autonomous vehicles safer than human-driven vehicles?

Self-driving vehicles has been on the rise in recent years, and it’s been made easier by advancing technology.

However, not all technology has positive effects on our lives, and Uber’s self-driving vehicle crash is a stark reminder of how dangerous innovation can be, and how careful we need to be when advancing ourselves.

Safety must always be the primary concern.
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Is the exploding Fitbit going to be the next Samsung Galaxy Note 7 scenario?

Although technology is growing at an unprecedented rate, the safety of such technological products remains questionable.

The first trend of such products exploding/catching on fire started with the Samsung Galaxy phones, then the iPhones (according to some disputed reports), and now the Fitbit.

The Fitbit is a wireless activity tracker and sleep wristband which measures data such as the number of steps walked, heart rate, quality of sleep, and other personal metrics to regulate an individual’s fitness and well-being.

From this story, there may be dangers of using them…
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