Legal chalenges are this: the driverless EV ran over someone but what happens is that corporations (often) bribe the judicial parties not charging them with a hit & run even though the victims families want justice for their vehicles killing pedestrians. The only “prevention” is harm reduction (investing into technology that’s able to detect human presence & sensors that activate in pedestian heavy areas stopping the vehicle).
Usually, when it’s a EV (with no human driver behind the wheel): is it still considered a criminal offense if a driverless EV ran over somebody as it just continues driving? In that case it’s mainly rideshare companies (i.e. Uber, Lyft, DiDi, etc) face criminal liability. Regardless, the companies who dispatch EV’s are sued when their vehicles run over somebody and the EV didn’t stop whilst doing so.
You’re fucking lucky if a human driver is held accountable for killing a pedestrian, in the US. Ain’t nobody getting held to shit if it’s a robot car.
Case in point, 80 year old woman in San Francisco going 70 in a residential area kills family of 4 waiting at a bus stop, including children aged 1 and 3 - and the judge gave her 2 years probation. And the REALLY good news is that she’ll be back on the road in 3 years! Justice!!!