You or Them

[KmH]

You're in a driverless car with a loved one. The driverless car is zipping down a one-way, single-lane road. There is a barricade to the left and a wall to the right.

Just ahead, pedestrians are hurrying from right to left across a crosswalk even though it's flashing a red DO NOT CROSS signal. If the driverless car does not swerve towards the wall on the right, hitting the pedestrians will be unavoidable.

What should happen next? Should the vehicle swerve into the wall and maybe sacrifice its passengers to avoid the pedestrians, or should it protect its passengers at all costs and mow down the pedestrians?

The social dilemma of autonomous vehicles | Science

 

[robbins.photo]

Are the pedestrians making my car payments?

 

[SquarePeg]

If you're in a car you have a better chance with the air bags and seat belts and reinforced frame vs. a wall than those pedestrians have vs. a car. Now if that pedestrian happens to be a certain ex husband, all bets are off...

 

[robbins.photo]

If you're in a car you have a better chance with the air bags and seat belts and reinforced frame vs. a wall than those pedestrians have vs. a car. Now if that pedestrian happens to be a certain ex husband, all bets are off...

So, for the onboard computer to determine if it is a certain ex-husband, a DNA test would be in order....

Which.. would require a blood sample....

So... Hmm...

 

[Designer]

Brakes?

 

[robbins.photo]

Brakes?

So the computer slams on those, car flips over on top of pedestrians, everybody dies.

Perfect. See, no playing favorites there.

 

[Ysarex]

This is strictly an insurance question.

Joe

 

[robbins.photo]

This is strictly an insurance question.

Joe

Which raises an interesting question, if the car self drives will it self insure as well?

 

[otherprof]

If you're in a car you have a better chance with the air bags and seat belts and reinforced frame vs. a wall than those pedestrians have vs. a car. Now if that pedestrian happens to be a certain ex husband, all bets are off...

You remind me of a classic Jaguar I was driving behind on Long Island, NY. The license plate read "WAS HIS" One of the few vanity plates I thought it was worth paying for.

 

[tirediron]

Never, ever yield the right-of-way.

 

[Netskimmer]

I say mow them down. I shouldn't have to risk my life because they couldn't be bothered to wait their turn. I would say the same thing if I was in the cross-walk. Other people should have to risk death because I wasn't paying attention or decided it was worth risking my life to shave a few minutes off my journey to wherever.

 

[robbins.photo]

I say mow them down. I shouldn't have to risk my life because they couldn't be bothered to wait their turn. I would say the same thing if I was in the cross-walk. Other people should have to risk death because I wasn't paying attention or decided it was worth risking my life to shave a few minutes off my journey to wherever.

Sounds reasonable to me. I am real;y wondering about the whole insurance thing too - I mean since I'm not the one driving the car why should my rates go up because of someone else's crappy programming skills?

 

[zombiesniper]

Pedestrians made the choice to be a road pizza, who am I to disagree.

 

[Netskimmer]

I say mow them down. I shouldn't have to risk my life because they couldn't be bothered to wait their turn. I would say the same thing if I was in the cross-walk. Other people should have to risk death because I wasn't paying attention or decided it was worth risking my life to shave a few minutes off my journey to wherever.

Sounds reasonable to me. I am real;y wondering about the whole insurance thing too - I mean since I'm not the one driving the car why should my rates go up because of someone else's crappy programming skills?

I don't think your insurance should go up even if you WERE driving the car. You shouldn't be held accountable (financially or legally) for an accident you didn't cause and couldn't avoid. (regardless of what choice you made, the result will be a totaled car and serious injury and/or death of either the cars occupants or the pedestrians, possibly both)

 

[weepete]

It's moot. Because either the car is aware of the pedestrians and stops or it doesn't see them and doesn't stop.