from Hacker News

Why Self Driving Cars Must Be Programmed to Kill

by knwang on 10/25/15, 7:26 PM with 12 comments

  • by kristianp on 10/26/15, 12:06 AM

    If two people run out in front of the car, and my option is to swerve to take out one innocent person on the side-walk, should I stay on the road, harming the people who broke the road rules? I would be breaking the road rules if I swerved and also I'd be harming someone who did no wrong.
  • by tim333 on 10/25/15, 10:44 PM

    I'm not sure it's true they must be programmed to kill. In general they will be programmed to avoid killing anyone. I imagine in situations that they do kill people it will be because the systems failed rather than by calculation.
  • by pvaldes on 10/26/15, 1:25 AM

    ... or we could just program an external airbag in the radiator instead and be more creative. A "capot airbag", why not? People in an automatic car do not really need to see out to drive.