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Unread 08-05-2014, 12:36
Libraryfanatic Libraryfanatic is offline
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AKA: Geordan
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Re: What does everyone think ? Are the cars unethical?

The impact on insurance may depend on how autonomous cars are introduced. I heard a little while ago that even the corporations developing autonomous cars aren't planning on actually selling them anytime soon precisely because of fears about liability. So, if the cars are just sort of phased in without big changes, possibly via legislation, the designer/maker of the car would probably be responsible for any accidents that result.

However, autonomous cars shouldn't make "mistakes." So, if there is such an inescapable situation, someone (i.e. a person) probably did something dumb or you're in one of those "act of god" situations. In the first case, the person responsible would be liable, just like in a regular crash. In the case of something natural, like a rockfall or tree drop, why not hit the tree? I guess I'm not seeing a situation occurring where you have to hit another car and nobody did something wrong. For example, if it's raining, the autonomous cars ought to be able to slow down the appropriate amount to maintain control--robots don't get impatient.

Last edited by Libraryfanatic : 08-05-2014 at 12:37. Reason: Silly me, I forgot about slip and slides