In a recent meeting with a key client, the topic of ‘driverless vehicles’ came up as a future threat to his personal injury practice. This presented an opportunity for his firm to proactively look toward new practice lines to diversify the types of cases they pursue, minimizing any future revenue gaps and risk.
This got me thinking, how will driverless vehicle technology impact our prospects and clients?
Stan Sinberg addresses this topic in a recent RocketLawyer blog entitled “Will Driverless Cars Run Over Personal Injury Lawyers?” Suffice it to say, driverless cars are heading our way due in large part to an estimated $2 trillion dollar impact to the economy. Industry analysts predict these vehicles will hit the Personal Injury Lawyer right in the wallet. The statistics are staggering:
- Human error accounts for 90% of the 5.5 million motor vehicle accidents in 2009 resulting in 34,000 deaths and 2.2 million injuries
- Driverless vehicle penetration only needs to hit as little as 25% for accidents to drop to a level felt by hard working trial lawyers
Now I am not suggesting that reducing injuries and deaths is a bad thing…it is a good thing, assuming the technology works as advertised.
The central question becomes: How will your firm be impacted if/when driverless technology is as common place as back up cameras, lane sensors and cars that can park themselves?
Vice President – Business Development
Photo Credit: 123RF Stock Photo
