What Happens If a Self-Driving Car Hits You in Nashville?

Nashville drivers are sharing the road with a new kind of vehicle. Waymo launched fully driverless public rides here in April 2026, and by late June anyone with the app could hail one — no waitlist required. Tesla, meanwhile, began paid Cybercab rides in Austin in early September, and local outlets reported in August that a fleet of Cybercabs — somewhere between 15 and 25, depending on the report — had turned up in a Cool Springs lot in Franklin. As of this writing, we're not aware of Tesla announcing public Cybercab rides in Tennessee. As these vehicles become part of everyday traffic, a practical question follows close behind: if one of them causes a crash, who actually pays for it?

 

The safety data so far is encouraging. A July 2026 study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety found that Waymo's driverless vehicles had police-reportable crash rates 68 percent lower than human drivers in the same cities. But that study covered four other cities between 2021 and 2024, not Nashville, and fewer crashes isn't zero crashes. As a Vanderbilt Law student recently pointed out, few court decisions or statutes have yet settled who is responsible when an autonomous vehicle injures someone.

 

Tennessee Law Treats the Software as the "Driver"

 

Tennessee doesn't have a separate legal category for self-driving car accidents. Instead, the state's Automated Vehicles Act (Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 55-30-101 to 55-30-108) folds these vehicles into the negligence, common law, and product liability rules that already govern every other crash on the road. The one meaningful twist: when the automated driving system is fully engaged and operating reasonably and in compliance with the manufacturer's instructions and warnings, the law treats that system — not any human — as the "driver" when determining the vehicle owner's liability for injury or property damage and liability for traffic-law violations.

In plain terms, if a Waymo or a Cybercab causes a wreck while its self-driving system is engaged and working as designed, the focus falls on the company that owns or operates the vehicle rather than on a human who was never driving. And if the system wasn't operating as intended, ordinary negligence and product liability rules still apply.

One more Nashville-specific point: as of July 1, 2026, the Act also bars cities and counties from prohibiting or regulating driverless vehicles that comply with it, so Metro Nashville can't simply ban them.

Who Can Actually Be Held Responsible

Being "self-driving" doesn't give a vehicle a pass on ordinary traffic law. A Waymo that runs a red light or drives the wrong way down a one-way street is judged by the same standard as a human driver would be. Depending on how a crash happened, liability can fall on more than one party:

• The vehicle operator (Waymo or Tesla), if the automated system made a driving error — like misjudging a turn or failing to yield.
• The manufacturer of the vehicle, its components, or its software, if a mechanical failure or a faulty sensor, camera, or onboard computer caused the crash — even when the driving software itself worked as designed.
• Fleet and maintenance partners, if a technician failed to secure a sensor or ignored a hardware problem before a car went back on the road. In Nashville, Lyft's Flexdrive subsidiary handles Waymo's fleet maintenance and depot operations.
• A third party, such as another driver, a cyclist, a pedestrian, or even a rider who ignores the rules or interferes with the vehicle, if their conduct caused or contributed to the collision.

These theories show up in real filings. A pending California lawsuit described in the Vanderbilt analysis names both Waymo and its parent company, Alphabet, and pleads negligence and strict products liability among its claims. Those are allegations, not findings.

One note on insurance: Tennessee's original 2017 law required $5 million in coverage for driverless vehicles, but that provision expired in July 2021. The current Automated Vehicles Act sets no specific insurance minimum for driverless vehicles, so the coverage actually available after a given crash is something an attorney needs to confirm rather than assume.

 

Passenger vs. Pedestrian: The Claim Looks Different

 

If you're injured while riding inside a Waymo or Cybercab, there's no human driver to sue for ordinary negligence — the claim is typically directed at the company operating the vehicle and its insurer, and may add a product liability claim if a defect is suspected.

If you're a pedestrian, cyclist, or occupant of another vehicle hit by one of these cars, you file a claim the same way you would against any at-fault driver, through the operator's insurance carrier. The catch is evidence. According to the Vanderbilt analysis, these vehicles carry event data recorders that work like a flight recorder, logging speed, braking, steering, and system diagnostics before a crash, and they also capture continuous video and radar footage plus software logs that can show whether a bug or a bad update played a role. That data is controlled by the company, attorneys warn it can be deleted on a routine schedule unless a formal preservation demand goes out quickly, and it takes real expertise to interpret.

 

Comparative Fault Still Applies

 

Tennessee uses a modified comparative fault rule: you can still recover damages as long as you're found less than 50 percent at fault for the crash, though your recovery is reduced by your share of the blame. Recoverable damages typically include medical bills, lost wages, property damage, and pain and suffering.

 

Steps to Protect Your Claim After a Crash

• Call 911 so an official police report gets generated.
• Get checked out by a medical professional right away, even for injuries that seem minor — soft-tissue injuries and concussions often worsen over the following days.
• Photograph the vehicle (including branding and the license plate), the road conditions, and any visible injuries, and collect contact information from any witnesses.
• Report the crash directly to the company and preserve your ride receipts and app data if you were a passenger.
• Avoid giving a recorded statement to the company or its insurer before speaking with an attorney — those statements are often used later to minimize a payout.

How DRS Law Can Help

Autonomous vehicle claims move fast, and the evidence that proves fault can disappear faster than a typical accident case. DRS Law handles personal injury claims across Nashville and understands how to move quickly to preserve sensor data, camera footage, and company records before they're gone, while building the negligence or product liability case that fits the facts.

Get in Touch

If you or a loved one has been injured in a crash involving a Waymo, a Tesla, or any autonomous vehicle in the Nashville area, contact DRS Law today for a free consultation to discuss your options.