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29 B.U. J. Sci. & Tech. L. 1 (2023-2025)
Liability and Regulatory Oversight of Semi-Autonomous and Autonomous Vehicles

handle is hein.journals/jstl29 and id is 8 raw text is: ARTICLE LIABILITY AND REGULATORY OVERSIGHT OF SEMI- AUTONOMOUS AND AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES AMIN R. YACOUBt [I]t is only when they go wrong that machines remind you how powerful they are. - Clive James' ABSTRACT Since 2020, Tesla, Inc. has become one of the most successful vehicle manu- facturers in the world. What once was a dream has become a reality: vehicles autonomously driving themselves with almost no human intervention. More im- portantly, Tesla vehicles are fully electric - cutting back on non-renewable en- ergy consumption. Since their market release, Tesla vehicles have gained a lot of popularity. YouTube videos of Tesla drivers showing off the auto-pilot tech- nology garnered millions of views. Ironically, compilation videos of Tesla crashes have gained even more views. Put simply, Tesla's new semi-autono- mous vehicle (AV) technology has directly caused the death of at least ten people and the injury of 24 others by swerving into the wrong lanes or even off the road. While necessary medical inventions are subject to scientific peer-re- view and a rigorous regulatory pre-approval by the Food and Drug Administra- tion (FDA), no corresponding regulatory agency exists to review AV technol- ogy in vehicles like Tesla's that might have an adverse impact on human safety during the early stages of development. Thus, this article assesses the personal and product liability resulting from the use of AVs and semi-AVs to determine T Legal Scholar and Doctoral (PhD/SJD) Candidate at University of Virginia School of Law; International Lawyer (licensed in New York and Egypt); Prosecutor at the Egyptian Public Prosecution; Former Research Scholar at New York University (NYU) School of Law (2018); LLM in International Law, NYU School of Law, MAHS Scholar (2018); LLM in Public Law, Faculty of Law, Cairo University (2017); Former Associate at the Arbitration department at Matouk Bassiouny Law Firm (2015-2016); LLB with High Distinction and Honors, Cairo University, Faculty of Law English Section (2015). I would like to thank Becky Briggs for her valuable comments. I would also like to thank Sam Cournoyer and the editorial team at BU Journal of Science and Technology Law for their excellent edits and suggestions. 1 Clive James, Technology Quotes, BRAINY QUOTE, available at https://www.brainyquote.com/topics/technology-quotes [https://perma.cc/VMU5-YKAF] (last visited Nov. 3, 2022). 1