BACK IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT: THE UNITED STATES SHOULD ENACT A UNIFIED AUTOMATED VEHICLE LAW AND REGULATION.

Automated Vehicles are becoming more and more prevalent in the modern world. Although these vehicles are not without drawbacks, they are predicted to have numerous benefits to society and are here to stay. However, as society progresses towards a more computer-controlled and less human-operated vehicle world, U.S. laws have been unable to keep up with these scientific developments. The federal and state governments have yet to achieve uniformity in their automated vehicle laws and regulations. The former has only provided voluntary guidance. For the latter, some states have taken progressive approaches, while others have taken more conservative ones. Taking into consideration that the current and upcoming automated vehicle technologies will create difficulties for claimants to successfully bring claims under the existing state product liability laws, this Note will explore potential solutions and propose a solution to address the current flaws. This Note will examine what the European Union has achieved in this area of law and what solutions other legal scholars have proposed to address the issue. Finally, this Note will propose that the United States enact a unified federal automated vehicle regulation with a private cause of action for automated vehicle product liability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]