Interesting. Yes I can imagine it being exception after exception. The liable party point is definitely an interesting factor. I guess it would be arranged by contract to flow through to the company providing the automation system or the trucks themselves. Not that the distribution company wouldn't have responsibilities in the event of an accident they would otherwise have figured a way out of, and other new diligence in general.

Whatever system does it, it will have to be able to handle a bunch of wild situations autonomously. After thinking about it I don't think any sort of remote operation can be relied on as a technology to the degree that hypothetical laws would require.