How Driverless Vehicles May Make Crash Injuries Worse

The severity of some accidents may increase as vehicles become driverless, in part because driver orientation will change, a crash reconstructionist told Canadian Underwriter in an interview last week. Currently, drivers are sitting in their seats, properly belted with their headrest in the proper position, looking straight ahead. But imagine a situation in which there are no “drivers,” just pods — small vehicles that have no steering wheels, gas or brakes — and everybody is turned towards the middle. In a fully automated vehicle, when an accident occurs, a person could be turned sideways to have a conversation with somebody else.