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0 pointsnkw9y ago0 comments

> Legal liability is one reason. As owner of the car, I am liable for damage it causes. So legal liability laws will have to change.

This, at least in most of the United States, is not a correct statement of the law. Absent something like Negligent Entrustment[1] or Vicarious Liability[2], one's ownership of a vehicle does not determine if one is liable if damage is caused while another is operating the vehicle. Some might be under this impression because we tend to purchase insurance "for a vehicle", however liability is placed upon a negligent driver (not owner). Somewhat of a discussion of this is found here: http://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2014/06/05/249762...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Negligent_entrustment [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vicarious_liability

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ams61109y ago

I can't speak for everywhere, I'll admit. Where I live, the owner is responsible, as I have learned firsthand by involvement in several accident scenarios where the vehicle owner was not driving at the time. You must purchase insurance for each vehicle you own, and if you allow another person to drive your vehicle you retain the liability.

I'm sure there are some exceptions e.g. if your vehicle is stolen, or in cases of a clear contract such as a vehicle lease or rental.

Subject to the foregoing, it seems entirely reasonable that if I allow a random stranger to use my car while I'm at work, that is my decision and my responsibility. And I would not do it.

Cthulhu_9y ago

How is the liability with rental or lease cars though? I think that's the legal structure in which the Tesla car pool would operate in. If Tesla would lease out their own cars instead of sell them, they could make a lot of money too, plus lower the bar for a lot of people to drive it.

tim3339y ago

I presume with a shared Teslas there would be a specific shared Tesla insurance policy to sort stuff.

barrkel9y ago

In the UK, under section 151 of the Road Traffic Act 1988, the owner's insurers are liable for third party injuries or losses caused by a thief driving the vehicle. They can try and claim back their losses from the thief, but that's unlikely to make them whole. So the legal owner will end up with a claim on their insurance.

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