Evolution and Controversies of Self-Driving Cars

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In recent years, the technology to advance cars to the point of automation has been developing drastically. The idea of automated cars, before the 1950’s, was solely considered to be science fiction. Self-driving cars were only theorized until the concept of an automated car became more realistic as progressions began in 1958, when Nebraska attempted to create cars that could drive themselves through radio signals along electrical circuits. These designs were not all successful many of which continued to have many errors in their design and in their ability to react to unpredicted issues that could spontaneously arise out on an open road. (“Self-Driving Cars”) Since then controversies have arose to safety issues regarding the ability of automated …show more content…

The article also brings about all the revisions that will need to be made to the law in order for self-driving cars to be released on the road. Driving laws currently in standing were all intended for humans and were not created with automated cars in …show more content…

They also through those technicalities address an ethical perspective. They approach their article through the use of questioning how an automated car will deal with moral decisions when there is an inevitable, no-win situation where an accident is unavoidable. The article questions if a self-driving car would choose between sparing the lives of its passengers vs. others or if it would pursue an option that opted for the least harm done such as calculating “the oncoming vehicles to assess the number of passengers at risk…” and then maneuvering to protect the majority of passengers (“Self-Driving Cars: An Ethical Perspective” 1). Therefore, the automated vehicle, not the passengers inside, would be to blame for any harm done to other vehicles or people inside or the passengers it was carrying. The article also questions who would be financially responsible for the harm done. The article then states different cars would be programmed with different moral algorithms to address case by case biases such as protecting the lives of children first, the majority of people, etc. The article states that autonomous cars will bring about many political and ethical decisions and issues. The journal also continues to assess whether autonomous cars will be socially

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