Self-driving cars programmed to decide who dies in a crash
WASHINGTON — Consider this hypothetical:
It’s
a bright, sunny day and you’re alone in your spanking new self-driving
vehicle, sprinting along the two-lane Tunnel of Trees on M-119 high
above Lake Michigan north of Harbor Springs. You’re sitting back,
enjoying the view. You’re looking out through the trees, trying to get a
glimpse of the crystal blue water below you, moving along at the
45-mile-an-hour speed limit.
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?
In
everyday driving, such no-win choices are may be exceedingly rare but,
when they happen, what should a self-driving car — programmed in advance
— do? ...
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