Robotaxis Are Coming to New Orleans. Who Pays When One Hits You?

THE HUMAN VERSION

Before we start: this is commentary and opinion, not legal advice. Reading it doesn't make me your lawyer. Neither does commenting, sharing, sending a DM, or yelling at your phone. Every case turns on its own facts. Attorney advertising.

You've probably seen them by now. White Jaguars covered in cameras, a sensor spinning on the roof, stopping at every light like they're auditioning for a driver's ed video. That's Waymo, the self-driving car company owned by Google's parent, Alphabet. It has been learning New Orleans streets since early 2025 and has about a dozen cars testing here, each with a human safety driver still behind the wheel.

That human is the part that's about to change. City officials say driverless testing could start later this year, with licensed robotaxi rides possibly in 2027. The City Council expects to start drafting the rules this fall.

So let's talk about it. I have thoughts. I always have thoughts.

First, a disclosure: I'm not anti-robot. This firm has used AI since 2022. There's a robot version of me on this website. He wears a cape. He has never been in a car accident, mostly because he's a drawing. You can meet him on our How We Use AI page.

Second, let's be honest about the competition. Waymo says its cars get into far fewer crashes than human drivers. Have you met our human drivers? This is a city where a turn signal is a rumor, a four-way stop is a negotiation, and a U-turn through the neutral ground counts as a lane change. Waymo has even offered to map our potholes for the city. Finally, a driver who sees every single one. The bar is on the ground. Some days it's in a pothole.

The question I actually care about: when the robot hits you, who pays?

Good news. Louisiana answered most of this in 2019, years before the first Waymo showed up. Act 232 of 2019 (La. R.S. 32:400.1 and following) lets driverless vehicles used in commerce operate here, on conditions:

• The robot is the driver. The self-driving system, and the company that certifies it to the state, count as the licensed operator. The company answers for its robot.

• The robot carries real insurance. Each vehicle needs at least $2,000,000 in liability coverage. The guy who rear-ended you on Claiborne only has to carry $15,000. The robot has to carry more than a hundred times that. Sit with that for a second.

• No hit-and-run robots. After a crash, the car has to stay at the scene, and the company has to contact police and hand over the required information. That's already better manners than some folks on I-10.

• Nobody gets a free pass. The law says it doesn't erase anyone's liability under existing law: owner, operator, manufacturer, parts supplier, retailer. And if there's a fight over which state's law applies to an injury claim, Louisiana law settles it. Sorry, California.

Now the catch. There's always a catch.

If you ride in a Waymo, you agreed to its terms, and those terms include mandatory arbitration and a class action waiver. If you're hurt as a passenger, your claim will likely go to a private arbitrator instead of a jury. The terms even say they apply to a guest on a ride somebody else booked. Whether that holds up against someone who never clicked anything is a fight I'd be happy to have.

If you were the pedestrian, the cyclist, or the person in the other car, you never clicked "I agree" on anything. The courthouse door is open.

Same lesson as the Uber case I wrote about last month: the fine print in the app gets decided long before the crash.

What I'd tell the City Council. Unsolicited, as is my brand.

One wrinkle first: the 2019 state law makes the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development the only agency with jurisdiction over these vehicles. So whatever the city writes may have to share the road with Baton Rouge. Expect lawyers. (Hi.)

Within whatever room the city has:

1. Make the crash data stick around. These cars record video and sensor data constantly. They are the most detailed eyewitness this city has ever had. The rules should require that footage to be preserved after a crash and made available to police and to the people who got hurt. The star witness should not get to lose its memory.

2. Put a real human on the hook, locally. You can't exchange insurance with a roof sensor. After a crash, a person should answer the phone, in this time zone.

3. Protect the people outside the car. Riders have an app. A pedestrian on Frenchmen at 1 a.m. has a go-cup and faith. The rules should treat people outside the car as the priority, not the afterthought.

If a robotaxi hits you, here's what to do. Same as any crash, plus a couple of robot-specific moves:

• Get checked by a doctor, even if you feel fine.

• Call the police and make your own report. The car is supposed to report too. Don't let the robot be the only one telling the story.

• Photograph the vehicle (license plate and any ID on the car), the scene, and the time.

• If you were a passenger, screenshot the ride in the app before anything changes.

• Don't give a recorded statement to the company or its insurer before you talk to a lawyer.

• Watch the clock. Louisiana gives you two years for most injury claims (La. C.C. art. 3493.1). The clock doesn't care who was driving, or that nobody was.

My take. Let them come. Seriously. If a computer can get down Tchoupitoulas during Mardi Gras without hitting anybody, I want to shake its hand. Its robot hand. I've got one of those too.

But "nobody was driving" can never turn into "nobody is responsible." Louisiana got that right in 2019. Now the city's rules and the app's fine print can't be allowed to quietly take it back.

They say no. WE say OUI (684). Even when "they" is a robot.

If you've been hurt by any vehicle in Louisiana, with a driver or without one, call (504) 684-4444. The consultation is free, you talk to the attorney, and there's no fee unless we win. Se habla español.

THE LAWYER VERSION

Attorney advertising. This post is legal information, commentary, and opinion, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Facts about Waymo's New Orleans testing come from public news reports and New Orleans City Council materials as of the date of publication; timelines and rules may change. Statutory references reflect Louisiana law on that date. "No fee unless we win" refers to attorney's fees; clients may remain responsible for case costs and expenses. Illustration created with AI; it does not depict actual events.