The local municipalities could also be at fault when driverless cars kill a pedestrian.
My car has "lane assist," a feature where the car "sees" the lane stripes and nudges the car to drive between them. The system disengages if the stripes are faded from weather and age. In fact, here in Houston the roads are made from white cement with white lane stripes, so it's often hard for the car to discern the lane markings; in California my local roads were topped with dark asphalt with reflective paint striping that's clearly visible at night.
Therefore, will we be seeing self-driving cars forces states, counties, and towns to keep their lane striping fresh so that the cars' cameras see them, or can they be found liable in a crash if the lane markings on the road are faded from neglect?
-PJ
An interesting observation I haven't seen mentioned before. In many states roads are beat to heck. There is no money to keep them in tip top shape at all times..