Ethical dilemma on four wheels: How to decide when your self-driving car should kill you

Los Angeles Times ^ | 06/23/2016 | Karen Kaplan

[Newtoidaho]

In that case the car should speed up to make sure.

[Ozark Tom]

If the self-driving car meticulously follows the rules-of-the-road; then, the person in the wrong-place-at-the-wrong-time is at fault--and subject to the consequences of any misadventure. Personal responsibility is in play in addition to the actions of a vehicle.

People every day make poor choices regarding placing themselves in danger, ignoring consequences of known hazards, most often to save time or avoid minor personal inconvenience.

Also, an automated piloting system should have a 2/5 second advantage in response time over human reflex speed, in addition to never faltering of situational awareness. If the vehicle controls encompass the expert driving skills of the instructors for say the Skip Barber Racing School for the specific type/class, then such a vehicle may become far more proficient than the average driver.

[Ozark Tom]

Fire up the non-lethal anti-personnel microwave beam and clear the street???

[VanShuyten]

When there are sufficient numbers of self-driving cars, they will, through a kind of Skynet, form an autonomous mind and decide the best course of action will be the one that “removes” the most humans.

[Pelham]

That sounds plausible.