Contracts, Product Liability and Driverless Cars

When it comes to networked and code-controlled products, such as driverless cars and household appliances (the Internet of Things), as I’ve written elsewhere, contract law can go in two different directions, depending upon how responsive it is to the needs of society.  In this essay, Professors Michael Rustad and Thomas Koenig address the problem of contractual limitations of liability when it comes to driverless cars and other software controlled and networked products.  They place the current era of networked products into historical context and argue that companies “should not be permitted to use contract law to shift the cost of defective code to the end user or consumer.” Their essay is an important reminder that contracts – especially mass consumer adhesive form contracts – are not the solution when it comes to consumer products.