Accidents in a self-driven world: Who is liable
An accident has the potential to sour any drive whether it be an outstation get away with friends or a night out on the town with family
Image: Shutterstock
The self drive industry has grown by leaps and bounds in India in the last few years. However, there are still certain parts of the product experience that have the potential to induce anxiety.
Most individuals who opt for a self drive vehicle tend to be less frequent drivers, a common concern what happens in the event of an accident. Understandably, this is the most frightening outcome of a self drive experience.
An accident has the potential to sour any drive, whether it is an outstation get away with friends or a night out on the town with family. The best way to avoid an accident will always be to use abundance of caution on the roads. That said, sometimes even the most cautious drivers can meet with an accident, given the frenetic circumstances on Indian roads.
In the face of this reality, self drive companies go to great lengths to ensure an extremely smooth process in the event that the customer meets with an accident.
Here are some best practices companies can follow:
Once the customer has informed the company about an accident, immediate action is absolutely essential. First step would be to inform road-side assistance, right up to notifying local emergency support, if required. This means, ensuring ambulances and local police is informed and rushes to the spot to help with any ground formalities, if needed.
A strong process only gets you so far when dealing with an accident. Without question, high empathy quotient is the most necessary skill to excel in this support function. It goes a long way in putting the customer at ease.
This provides a mental and financial safety net for the customer, something that’s quite non-trivial when it comes to the perceived ease of use of the service. Companies always aim to create a product that fosters maximum return customers, and by ring fencing customer obligations in the event of an accident, loyalty is created.
When handling an accident, a self drive company faces two very real outcomes: either the experience can be quite poor for the customer, thus spreading brutally negative word of mouth or the experience can be remarkably positive where the customer raves about the support and understanding shown by the company at the time of accident.
The author is a Co-founder of Zoomcar.