ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - Who's at fault if you get in a crash with car that has "self-driving" features?
As more cars with "driver assist" features hit Missouri's highways, more crashes are involving them.
In 2022, automakers reported nearly 400 crashes of vehicles with partially automated driver-assist systems, including 273 involving Teslas, according to statistics released by U.S. safety regulators.
After crashing, drivers in Missouri are telling state troopers they aren't at fault because the car was "driving itself."
Cpl. Dallas Thompson with the Missouri State Highway Patrol said the department's been seeing more vehicles with autonomous features, like Tesla, in crashes.
"We've had several crashes that we've worked where the driver has told us they [weren't] driving, that the vehicles were driving themselves," Thompson said. "And the capability is there in a lot of vehicles now. That's not something you should trust your vehicle to do."
Thompson said maybe, in the future, cars with "self-driving" technology can be more reliable, but now they are not.
"You still need to be in control of your vehicle. You can't just kick back and take a nap and expect your vehicle to get you where it's gonna go," Thompson said.
Law enforcement officials are wondering if this issue is something they need to look at from the enforcement action, or if legislation needs to get involved. Because of this, Thompson said it can be difficult to categorize these "self-driving" accidents.
"As long as there's not an issue, there's not an issue. But when that crash occurs, then we have to figure out: is this negligance? Is this carelessness? We gotta wait to see how this all plays out," Thompson said.
Starting this year, Cpl. Thompson said the highway patrol will be tracking crashes involved with cars with "self-driving" tech to get a better idea of the issue.