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Comment by Animats | Hacker News Reader

Need to query the California PUC about whether having signed up for Google relieves them from liabilty if you're hit by a Waymo.

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Or whether having ever done business with Tesla prevents one from suing Tesla if someone else’s autopiloting car hits them.

Presumably a sensible court would hold that no possible interpretation of a contract affects a lawsuit unrelated to the scope of the product or services provided under that contract.

Tesla doesn't have driverless cars, so I'm not worried.

The drivers are responsible if the software shits itself.

This will absolutely change in the next decade.

As announced by their CEO in the previous decade...

I think they must mean the second sentence will happen in the next decade. Tesla releasing a self driving car… probably not so likely.

Given that other companies have self driving cars operating (but not for sale) today (I've taken rides in them).

I think Tesla might have to accept they need to use more sensors, and maybe even licence someone else's tech but Tesla will not accept being the only "luxury" automaker not offering self driving.

Yeah but someone has to overcome their ego before being willing to license the tech for their most hyped feature... We'll see how long that takes.

Adding sensors would indeed be an easy W.

It might, it would be pretty reasonable if the company that sells a self-driving car is the one liable when it crashes into something.

Tesla will be shielded by their brilliant strategy of never releasing the feature.

I stopped the job application process to a well known car maker as a software engineer about a decade ago because the application, to the best of my memory at this time, included an arbitration clause that seemed to me to be very broad. Because of that arbitration clause I have not considered applying to them for more than a decade.

If you have a Twitter account, you agree to arbitration if someone drives their Tesla, on auto pilot, into your bedroom. Damages are limited to your Twitter subscription fee, or $1.

I can see it happening.

If this decision goes through, and you've ordered a Waymo through your Google account, and that Waymo car, say, hits you as it's parking - yes, likely the Google account terms of service would be found to apply. Which is insane, but such is a rigidly contractualistic society.

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