Self-Driving Car Accident Lawyers in Pennsylvania
Based in Wilkes-Barre, serving Luzerne, Lackawanna and Dauphin Counties and clients across Pennsylvania. Free consultation — no fee unless we win.
Get a Free Consultation
Our Wilkes-Barre attorneys are available 24/7 to discuss your self-driving vehicle accident.
Self-Driving Car Accident Lawyers Serving Wilkes-Barre, Scranton & All of Pennsylvania
Driver-assist and self-driving technology is already on I-81, I-80 and Route 309 every day — a Tesla on Autopilot through the Wyoming Valley, a Super Cruise-equipped SUV on the Turnpike Northeast Extension. As these systems become more common, crashes involving them raise complex questions about liability, compensation and responsibility. We can help you understand the unique aspects of your case and the self-driving car laws that apply in Pennsylvania.
PA Attorney Source is on South River Street in Wilkes-Barre. Our legal team stays current on autonomous vehicle law and the technology behind it, and handles these cases for clients across Luzerne, Lackawanna and Dauphin Counties and throughout Pennsylvania.
Whether you've been injured in an accident involving Tesla Autopilot, GM Super Cruise, Ford BlueCruise, or another automated system, or are considering suing after an AV accident, our attorneys will fight for the compensation you deserve. We navigate the intersection of technology and personal injury law, which has much in common with truck accident claims built on electronic vehicle data.
Why These Cases Are Different
- Complex determination of liability in autonomous vehicle accidents between drivers, manufacturers, and software developers.
- Special considerations for partially autonomous versus fully self-driving vehicles.
- Technical evidence requirements including vehicle data logs and system records, often part of the AV accident investigation process.
- Evolving state and federal regulations shaping the future of transportation law in Pennsylvania.
- Rapidly changing insurance coverage considerations.
Autonomous Vehicle Accident Statistics
3,224
Reportable crashes in Luzerne County in 2024 — about nine a day — on the roads where driver-assist systems now operate (PennDOT).
392
Crashes involving driver assistance systems reported to NHTSA in one year.
2,259
Crashes in Lackawanna County in 2024 — 10.4 per 1,000 residents, the highest rate of the counties we serve.
Pennsylvania Autonomous Vehicle Testing
Pennsylvania has become a hub for autonomous vehicle testing, with multiple companies running pilot programs in the western part of the state, and the Commonwealth has established guidelines for testing highly automated vehicles while it works toward comprehensive regulations.
Driver-assist crashes on I-81, Route 309 and the Turnpike are already reaching our office. See our five-year county crash statistics for the traffic these systems are operating in.
Understanding Self-Driving Vehicle Technologies
Levels of Automation
- Level 1 (Driver Assistance): Vehicle assists with steering OR acceleration/braking.
- Level 2 (Partial Automation): Vehicle assists with steering AND acceleration/braking.
- Level 3 (Conditional Automation): Vehicle performs all driving tasks under certain conditions.
- Level 4 (High Automation): Vehicle performs all driving tasks under specific circumstances.
- Level 5 (Full Automation): Vehicle performs all driving tasks in all conditions.
Common Systems in Use
- Tesla Autopilot/Full Self-Driving: Advanced driver assistance with steering, acceleration, and braking control.
- GM Super Cruise: Hands-free driving on compatible highways.
- Ford BlueCruise: Hands-free driving on prequalified sections of divided highways.
- Waymo: Fully autonomous taxi services in select cities.
- Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS): Features like adaptive cruise control, lane keeping, and automatic emergency braking. It's also important for understanding your rights in rideshare accidents, especially as autonomous features become more common in Uber or Lyft vehicles.
Common Causes of Autonomous Vehicle Collisions
Failure to Detect Objects
Self-driving systems may fail to detect obstacles, pedestrians, or other vehicles, especially in unusual circumstances or poor visibility conditions.
Handoff Confusion
Accidents occurring during the transition between automated driving and manual control, when drivers may not be prepared to take over.
System Malfunction
Software glitches, sensor failures, or other technical issues that cause unpredictable vehicle behavior or loss of control.
Poor Weather Handling
Autonomous systems struggling to navigate safely in snow, heavy rain, or fog when sensors may be partially blocked or less effective.
Navigation Errors
Autonomous vehicles misinterpreting road markings, construction zones, or following outdated map data leading to accidents.
Driver Overreliance
Accidents caused when drivers place too much trust in partially automated systems, becoming distracted or inattentive.
Who is Liable in a Pennsylvania Driverless Car Crash?
We can help determine liability. Self-driving vehicle accidents present unique challenges when determining fault. Unlike conventional accidents where driver error is typically the primary cause, autonomous vehicle crashes may involve multiple responsible parties, making the AV accident investigation process crucial. Suing after an AV accident requires careful analysis of all contributing factors.
Potential Liable Parties
- Vehicle Operator: May be liable if they improperly used the autonomous system, ignored warnings, or failed to take control when required.
- Vehicle Manufacturer: Potentially liable for defects in the vehicle's design, manufacturing, or inadequate warnings about system limitations.
- Software Developers: May be responsible for programming errors or flaws in the autonomous driving system.
- Component Manufacturers: Could be liable if sensors, cameras, radar units, or other autonomous components were defective.
- Government Entities: Potentially liable for poorly maintained roads, incorrect signage, or inadequate regulations that contributed to the accident.
Pennsylvania Approach to Liability
Pennsylvania applies modified comparative negligence in personal injury cases, meaning compensation may be reduced by your percentage of fault, and you cannot recover damages if you are more than 50% responsible for the accident.
For self-driving vehicle cases, determining liability in autonomous vehicle accidents often requires:
- Expert analysis of the vehicle's data logs.
- Technical evaluation of the autonomous system's performance.
- Review of the vehicle's maintenance records.
- Assessment of the driver's actions and system usage.
- Analysis of road and environmental conditions.
Our attorneys work with technical experts to build strong cases establishing liability in these complex accidents. Suits are filed in the Court of Common Pleas of the county where the crash happened — Luzerne County's is in Wilkes-Barre — and we can explain the process in detail.
Navigating Pennsylvania's Evolving Autonomous Vehicle Laws
Current Regulatory Framework
Pennsylvania has taken a proactive approach to autonomous vehicle testing and operation, while continuing to develop comprehensive regulations. Understanding Pennsylvania's self-driving car laws is key. Key aspects include:
- PennDOT's Autonomous Vehicle Testing Guidance outlines requirements for companies testing self-driving vehicles.
- A licensed driver must be present in the vehicle during testing.
- Companies must submit a Notice of Testing to PennDOT before beginning operations.
- Self-driving vehicles must maintain minimum liability insurance coverage.
- Any accidents involving autonomous vehicles must be reported to both local authorities and PennDOT.
The Pennsylvania Autonomous Vehicle Policy Task Force continues to work on developing more comprehensive regulations as technology evolves, shaping the future of transportation law in Pennsylvania.
These evolving regulations make it essential to work with attorneys who stay current on the latest legal developments affecting autonomous vehicle accident cases.
Insurance Considerations
Pennsylvania's auto insurance laws interact with autonomous vehicle technology in complex ways:
- Limited Tort vs. Full Tort: Your choice of insurance policy may affect your ability to seek compensation for pain and suffering after a self-driving vehicle accident.
- First-Party Benefits: Pennsylvania requires minimum medical benefits coverage, but this may be insufficient for serious injuries from autonomous vehicle accidents.
- Uninsured/Underinsured Motorist Coverage: Critical protection if the at-fault party has insufficient insurance or if liability is disputed between multiple parties.
- Product Liability Coverage: May apply when accidents are caused by defects in the autonomous driving system.
Types of Compensation You Can Recover After an AV Accident
Victims of self-driving vehicle accidents in Luzerne, Lackawanna and Dauphin Counties — and anywhere in Pennsylvania — may be entitled to various forms of compensation. These accidents can lead to severe or catastrophic injuries often resulting from high-impact collisions, depending on the circumstances. Getting legal help early is crucial to ensure all avenues for compensation are explored.
Economic Damages
- Medical Expenses: Current and future costs for treatment, surgery, medication, physical therapy, and rehabilitation.
- Lost Income: Compensation for wages lost due to inability to work, as well as reduced future earning capacity.
- Property Damage: Repair or replacement costs for your vehicle and other damaged property.
- Out-of-Pocket Expenses: Transportation to medical appointments, home modifications, assistive devices, and other accident-related costs.
Non-Economic Damages
- Pain and Suffering: Compensation for physical pain and discomfort caused by your injuries.
- Emotional Distress: Psychological trauma, anxiety, depression, and other mental health impacts.
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life: Compensation for inability to participate in hobbies, activities, and life experiences.
- Loss of Consortium: Damages for the impact on relationships with spouse and family members.
- Disfigurement/Scarring: Compensation for permanent physical changes affecting appearance.
Special Considerations in Autonomous Vehicle Cases
Self-driving vehicle accident claims may involve additional factors that affect compensation for AV crash injuries:
- Product Liability Elements: May allow for additional damages against manufacturers or software developers.
- Multiple Responsible Parties: Potential to recover from several sources when liability is shared
- Punitive Damages: May be available in cases of gross negligence or recklessness by manufacturers.
- Complex Insurance Issues: The interplay between personal auto insurance and manufacturer/developer liability can affect compensation.
Why Choose Our Firm for Your Self-Driving Car Accident Case?
Focused Experience
Our attorneys have focused knowledge of autonomous vehicle technology and the unique legal challenges these cases present.
Technical Knowledge
We work with qualified experts in autonomous vehicle systems, accident reconstruction, and data analysis to build your case. We understand the AV accident investigation process.
Attorney-Reviewed, No Fee Unless We Win
Every self-driving vehicle accident inquiry is reviewed by a licensed Pennsylvania attorney, and we work on a contingency basis — no fee unless we win.
Client-Centered Approach
We provide personalized attention to every client, ensuring your specific needs and concerns are addressed throughout your case.
Local Court Experience
We file and try cases in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas in Wilkes-Barre and in the Lackawanna and Dauphin County courts, and can litigate anywhere in Pennsylvania.
Clear Communication
We explain complex legal and technical issues in understandable terms, keeping you informed at every stage of your case.
Frequently Asked Questions About Self-Driving Vehicle Accidents
Answers about crashes involving autonomous and driver-assist technology under Pennsylvania law.
Beyond the usual steps — safety, 911, medical care, photos, witness contacts, a police report — note everything about the technology while it's fresh: whether the vehicle appeared to be in autonomous mode, what the person in the driver's seat was doing, any screens, alerts or chimes you saw or heard. Those details tell us which data to demand later. Then talk to us before any insurer or the vehicle operator's representatives contact you; in these crashes the companies start gathering data immediately, and you should too.
Potentially several parties at once: the human behind the wheel who failed to supervise the system, the vehicle's owner or fleet operator, and the manufacturer or software developer whose system misread the road. These cases typically combine an ordinary negligence claim against the driver with a product liability claim against the maker — two theories, two sets of insurance, two very different kinds of evidence. We pursue them in parallel rather than letting each defendant point at the other.
Yes. Pennsylvania authorized highly automated vehicles on its roads by Act 130 of 2022, and vehicles with partial-automation features — adaptive cruise, lane centering, automated parking — are already common on I-81 and the Turnpike. Legality doesn't shield anyone from injury liability: the same statute-and-negligence framework applies when an automated system causes a crash, with the added product-liability layer against the technology's maker. What changes is the evidence, which lives in the vehicle's data rather than a driver's memory.
From the machine's own records. The vehicle logs what its sensors saw, what the software decided, when it warned the human and whether anyone touched the wheel or brake — evidence far more precise than witness memory, but held by companies with every reason to keep it. We send preservation demands early, retain technical experts to interpret the logs, and test whether the system failed, the human failed to supervise it, or both. Pennsylvania's comparative negligence rule (42 Pa. C.S. § 7102) then allocates the percentages.
Then the human driver remains legally responsible for the vehicle — driver-assist systems require an attentive driver, and over-trusting one is negligence, not an excuse. That's good news for an injured victim: the claim proceeds like any car accident case, against the driver and their insurer. Where the system itself behaved dangerously or its design invited misuse, a product claim against the manufacturer may be added. We determine what level of automation was engaged before deciding which theories to pursue.
Yes. Pennsylvania recognizes strict product liability under § 402A as interpreted in Tincher v. Omega Flex — a defective product claim does not require proving the company was careless, only that the product was defective and caused your injury. For an autonomous system that can mean a design defect in how it detects pedestrians or stopped traffic, a manufacturing or software defect, or a failure to warn about the system's limits. Negligence and warranty theories can run alongside the strict liability claim.
Two years from the crash for the injury claim (42 Pa. C.S. § 5524); a breach-of-warranty theory against the manufacturer runs on its own four-year clock (13 Pa. C.S. § 2725). The real urgency is the data: vehicle logs, sensor recordings and software versions can be overwritten, updated or lost long before any legal deadline arrives. A preservation letter in the first days is worth more than a year of deliberation later, which is why we ask you to call before deciding anything else.
Nothing up front. Autonomous-vehicle cases are expensive to build — technical experts, data analysis, sometimes litigation against well-funded manufacturers — and we advance those costs under a written contingency fee agreement: no fee unless we recover for you. The consultation is free, and it's genuinely useful even if you're unsure a system malfunction was involved, because the only way to know is to look at the data. Every inquiry is reviewed by a licensed Pennsylvania attorney.
Request a Free Consultation with a Self-Driving Car Accident Lawyer
Contact Us Today for Your AV Accident Claim
Fill out the form below and our team will contact you promptly to discuss your self-driving vehicle accident case and legal options. We serve clients from our Wilkes-Barre office across Luzerne, Lackawanna and Dauphin Counties and throughout Pennsylvania.
Our Commitment to You
At PA Attorney Source, we understand how challenging the aftermath of a self-driving vehicle accident can be. Our attorneys, based in Wilkes-Barre and serving clients across Pennsylvania, will:
- Conduct a thorough investigation of your accident, including collecting and analyzing vehicle data logs and sensor information.
- Work with technical experts to determine the role autonomous technology played in causing your accident.
- Handle all communications with insurance companies and other parties' attorneys.
- Evaluate all potential sources of compensation, including driver insurance, manufacturer liability, and product defect claims.
- Negotiate aggressively to secure the maximum compensation for your injuries and losses.
- Prepare your case for trial if a fair settlement cannot be reached.
Don't navigate this complex legal terrain alone. Contact our self-driving vehicle accident lawyers today for a free, no-obligation consultation about your self-driving vehicle accident case.
Areas We Serve
Our office is in Wilkes-Barre. We represent injured people across the Wyoming Valley and Scranton area, and in Harrisburg and Dauphin County:
Luzerne County
- Wilkes-Barre
- Hazleton
- Kingston
- Pittston
- Nanticoke · Plymouth · Mountain Top
- All Luzerne County Locations
Lackawanna County
- Scranton
- Dunmore · Carbondale · Clarks Summit · Dickson City
- All Lackawanna County Locations
Dauphin County
- Harrisburg
- Hershey · Middletown · Colonial Park
- All Dauphin County Locations
Contact Us
On This Page
Reviewed by
Joseph J. Mashinski, Esq.
— Managing Attorney, PA Attorney Source. Pennsylvania attorney since 2005 (PA ID 201414), Penn State Dickinson Law. Joseph reviews every case inquiry that comes to the firm.