Self-Drive Cars - Fatal Accident Decisions

[Firkinvald]

With self-drive (semi-autonomous) cars being a reality in the near future, who should decide how the car will react in a no win situation which will result in fatalities?

Example: As you approach a rise in the road, heading south, a school bus appears, driving north, one driven by a human, and it veers sharply toward you. There is no time to stop safely, and no time for you to take control of the car.

Does the car:

A. Swerve sharply into the trees, possibly killing you but possibly saving the bus and its occupants?

B. Perform a sharp evasive maneuver around the bus and into the oncoming lane, possibly saving you, but sending the bus and its driver swerving into the trees, killing her and some of the children on board?

C. Hit the bus, possibly killing you as well as the driver and kids on the bus?


My question is who should decide how the car should be programmed:

The Government, the auto maker, the individual that owns the car or some other entity (such as an international agency)?

[tom the pit leader]

No to the international option, and that includes international businesses.

[DanDesade]

In the scenario

A would seem to be the correct decision

B and C could be considered criminal

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Which suggests the follow up question: who is liable in the aftermath?

As for the programming i'd think gov

[king qaz]

how does the car know it's a bus and not just another vehicle can it make the distinction ?

should not be the individual

[DanDesade]

Considering the car manufacturers would not want liability how would it be determined the person is.

Would they be given 100 scenarios and asked to choose an individual action for each and accordingly the automated program would make descions based on those answers.

Or

Could those same 100 scenarios be given to a select group of professional drivers i.e. those who earn money from driving e.g. driving instructors, cab drivers, transport professionals.g. buses, trucking and have them create a unified program every automated car adheres to?

[tom the pit leader]

With optimal driving, B may actually be the best answer. Assuming that there is enough time to make maneuver, the car SHOULD (big dangerous should) know where the bus is likely to end up, and thus can formulate a vector around the most likely path(s) of the bus. With the superior driving capabilities of the automated vehicle, lots of situations which would otherwise result in casualties might not.

Now that this is not a hypothetical question, the wording needs to be tighter. In a situation where we know there will be a casualty, should the autonomous vehicle prioritize itself and its occupants over the other vehicle(s) in the equation? And should situations where the other party is a human driver be treated differently than when it's a human pedestrian in casualty-assured situations?

I am going to assume that there is no legitimate reason two self-driving vehicles should ever hit one another, hacking notwithstanding.

[Lord Windmark]

I would agree with an International option in the sense that my country is a member of The EU, If an independant non-profit body was set up to regulate all of these decisions with experts from the auto-car industries in Germany, Italy, and France acting as the board members.

I know that The United Kingdom is already testing driver free cars. I am invovled in the shipping industry and they are now making the first fully automated cargo ship. It will pass up the Bay of Biscay and head towards the British south coast.

[Deadpocketss]

I feel like ideally, the car owner would have the option to make that decision. A version of this question in the car itself and how the owner answers will tell the AI which route to take when/if the circumstance presents itself. That would take the liability off of any manufacturer and any backlash off of a government agency.

[Firkinvald]

For more interesting reading, there is a classic problem that relates to this called the "Trolley problem". Check out the Wikipedia reference:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trolle...omous_vehicles

[shadehiker]

I would suggest that each person has a responsibility for their own self preservation. In this case the car is an extension of its operator and thus has an obligation to at least attempt to preserve their life first, then minimize other loss of life second.

As to who should program it, leave it to the automaker, but make the choice known to consumers and let the market sort it out.