Canadian Lawyer

w w w . C A N A D I A N L a w y e r m a g . c o m F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 7 43 s the development of autono- mous vehicles marches forward, personal injury firms should be thinking about the future of their practice. Fredric Litwiniuk, of Litwiniuk & Co. Barristers and Solicitors in Calgary, says his firm has already seen a reduction in accident files with the onslaught of new safety features in cars — the amount of files has stayed the same despite population increase — and expects that trend to continue as the technology trickles from luxury cars into the mainstream market. Driverless cars, and what they will mean for the business of personal injury law, is always on the mind of his firm as it readies for "some sort of transi- tion," whatever it may look like. Litwin- iuk, director of business development and marketing at his firm, says personal injury lawyers, like any other lawyer in a practice area that is changing, have to be "ready and willing to adapt to the new situation." While from a human standpoint, any- thing that reduces the number of acci- dents is a positive thing — "We see first- hand the kind of impact it has on lives," he says — from a business standpoint, "we just have to be cognizant that this is something that's coming and start posi- tioning ourselves for the transition in law, the transition in practice." It's always hard to predict the future, he says, but for him, "the potential to reduce the number of accidents and fatalities on the roads is huge and can't be ignored." Litwiniuk says his practice will be better prepared when — not if — these autonomous cars hit the market. "I would discourage anybody — in any profession or any business — from swim- ming against that kind of tide. Something like this, when it happens, is going to be monumental." On Nov. 28, the Ontario government announced the first automated vehicle pilot program in Canada. The University of Waterloo, BlackBerry QNX and the Erwin Hymer Group are the participants, with Waterloo trying out a Lincoln MKZ as part of the WATCar Project from the university's Centre for Automotive Research, a 2017 Lincoln being tested by BlackBerry and a Mercedes-Benz Sprint- er Van being monitored by Erwin Hymer. The announcement came after Ontario became the first province in Canada to create a pilot regulatory framework to test automated vehicles on the road, which hap- pened on Jan. 1 and is set to run for 10 years with staggered interim reports. Ontario has provided $2.95 million in funding, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engi- neers predicts that by 2040, 75 per cent of all vehicles on the road will be autonomous. But even though automated vehicles are on the radar as a real possibility, the concept doesn't translate so seamlessly into real life. "The existing pilot regulation is so far away from dealing with fundamental legal L E G A L R E P O RT \ P E R S O N A L I N J U RY MATTHEW BILLINGTON In the driver's seat Should personal injury lawyers be preparing for driverless cars? By Mallory Hendry A

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