The Technology Of Autonomous Car

So what are some of the ethical issues that deal with driverless cars and should we expect robot cars to be more ethical than human drivers? Another question automakers of the driverless car will have to answer is who will be held responsible when a driverless car has an accident with another vehicle? Can a driverless car make a judgment call when it’s faced with avoiding an accident between a shopping cart and a baby carriage? Technologist ethicists are pushing to have these questions of moral and ethical judgments answered during the design phase. (Headrick, 2014). Oops, they may be a little late when it comes to driverless cars. But there is still time, experts predict that 75 percent of cars will be self-driving by 2040. (Bailey, 2014)

Twenty-first century technology secretly move in every corner of our life, computer, television, even our fridge. Technology not only become the things that can make our life easier but also become things that we needed. Over the last two years, driverless car become a hot topic. Is it safe? Should we really commit our life to computer’s care? Is the technology we have nowadays able to support driverless car?

The automated vehicles is not fully established to society and has not been fully completed so far so we do not know specifically if the automated vehicles will cause or get into accidents but it is bound to happen. Since the autonomous car is driverless it is run by algorithms of artificial intelligence and micro robotic related components to function. What would happened if you put the autonomous car in a position where it had to choose to be in different types of accidents for e.g. A young kid, a cyclist with protective gear such as a helmet and pads or another car that a person is in that could become way worse and harm even more people. These are all issues that surround the “Rights Theory” and that if this automated vehicles becomes established in the future this will be very different and unique due to the fact that it is driverless so who is to blame and in rough situations who would it decide to harm in an accident since this is artificial intelligence we should have the right to know everything about this, the ins and outs of what could or would happen before releasing this into the public. And having the rights theory viewpoint I think it would be best to have it come without any pre-determined decide in advance in the decision making and function and

Imagine being able to get into your car and simply typing in your desired destination, and then reclining your seat to watch a movie or text a friend. During this time, the car is basically driving itself. Well, soon this may be possible this invention is called an autonomous car. An autonomous car, or driverless/ robotic car, is a car that is designed to drive without human interference. Essentially, drivers can program their destination into the car’s GPS system and then sit back and relax. Some of the world’s largest car companies are currently creating autonomous vehicles, such as Audi, Toyota, Volvo, Mercedes, and countless others. The driverless vehicle is now becoming a clearer and more present reality, and has been discussed and planned for decades. The autonomous vehicle offers significant benefits, but raises many questions and difficulties.

Right now self-driving cars and trucks are hitting the road and will soon be available to the general market . Major companies like Google, Tesla, Uber and Delphi are leading in autonomous cars industry. In the past few years, these companies have made great strides improving this technology. Addressing the concerns for this technology must be concluded before it reaches the general public. Given the current state of automobiles that don’t need drivers the American consumer needs to be mindful that moral decisions this technology is handling puts them at risk due to the fact that this is emerging technology, laws are being made that will shape this technology, and who is choosing who lives and who dies.

In her article “To Hit the Road, Driverless Cars Must Be Safe, Not Perfect,” Nidhi Kalra argues that because humans are untrustworthy when it comes to safe driving, we should adapt to driverless cars. She provides three premises to support her argument. First, she presents the data of deaths and injuries that were caused by human mistakes. Second, she points out that even though driverless cars may never reach perfection, they would never make miscalculations or mistakes that human drivers make all the time, such as drunk driving, drowsy driving, or driving with distraction. Third, she argues that driverless cars offer benefits such as bettering mobility and efficiency, reducing congestion costs and land use. With these primary premises, Kalra persuades that driverless cars should hit the road one day to reduce amounts of accidents that are likely made by human drivers.

“Our Driverless Future” is an article narrated in the third person point of view. In this article, Halpern expresses the many concerns with autonomous vehicles that will be created and used in the near future. She begins by stating that semiautonomous cars equipped with new technologies and safety features, such as “autopilot” mode, actually focus the driver’s attention to many areas but the road. It is already seen that due to these features, there is an increase in collisions and a lack of safety on the road. Therefore, Google and other companies proposed the idea of self-driving vehicles that eliminate split responsibility between the driver and the car. Although this mobility revolution might sound appealing to some people, especially young

“Ninety percent of our road accidents are related to bad driving behavior; driving recklessly and speeding under the influence of alcohol, changing lanes without signaling, driving on the hard shoulder and passing through red lights.” -Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Commander in chief of the Dubai Police (Olarte, 2011). The majority of car crashes are caused by human errors, and if this proposition is implemented, the number of fatalities due to car accidents per year will dramatically plummet. In 2012, a Google driverless car had driven over 300,000 miles, with only two accidents being reported, both of which had been a human’s fault (Emerson, 2012). Autonomous cars will have quicker reflexes than humans, make more reliable judgments and will not commit silly mistakes such as texting whilst driving. As a collateral for reducing accidents, this innovation could theoretically also save the government trillions of dollars each year.

Similarly, the article “The Moral Challenges of Driverless Cars” explains how driverless cars will be a safer alternative. It explains how humans are more prone to cause an accident than the driverless cars. The article describes the processing behind the vehicles and some problems they face while making them along with how this will delay their production. It also clarifies how the cars will be able to make the decisions that will keep people safe instead of putting them in harm’s way. Finally, the article describes the ethical issues and automation in cars today. According to Kirkpatrick, the cars are equipped with software that determine what reaction to make in different situations that would take a human more time to make, therefore, avoiding an accident. As stated in this article, there is still much work to be done before the cars are actually ready to sell to the public.

The article, “The Promise of a Post-Driver Life” states, car accidents occur every day, leaving someone seriously injured about every seven-seconds and one dead about every fourteen minutes (Humas). Surprisingly, driverless vehicles are on the rise and people do not know how to react or what to think about them. While the number of accidents on the road has increased over the years. Driverless cars could be a solution to help to mend the problem and help eliminate driver errors. Some people believe we should have driverless vehicles while others say they would be too dangerous. Many people in the United States feel driverless cars can create a decrease in the number of accidents, create a better traffic flow, and create greater mobility for those who cannot drive, while others say it would be too hazardous with possible computer malfunctions, cyber attacks, and relying on algorithms to make ethical decisions.

At the turn of the 20th century, serious debate raged in courtrooms and newspapers over whether the automobile was inherently evil. In 1907, one court compared automobiles to "ferocious animals" whose owners should be liable for their actions, with the crucial note that "it is not the ferocity of automobiles that is to be feared, but the ferocity of those who drive them." Even now, one of the biggest attractions of autonomous vehicles is the prospect of getting negligent motorists out of the driver's seat. But in terms of the effect on car accident cases, that's just the start.

My research topic is about who is responsible for a self-driving car accident? The driver or the car manufacturer? This is probably the most popular topic regarding on self-driving cars, it is an ethical issue since it involves both human being and technology. Based on deontology ethical framework, the driver cannot responsible for a faulty self-driving system, but driver does have the responsibility to control the car in current social culture.

When dealing with autonomous cars, there are many ethical questions raised that need to be answered before they are released on the road. Like if the vehicle is in a situation where it would either hit a person or an oncoming car, which would it choose? Or would the vehicle choose to crash itself into a wall, possibly injuring the occupants?

Since the beginning of self-driving cars which first began in 1925 with the creation of the Houdina Radio Control; a car operated by two cars, a transmitter, and an antenna, to now - the futuristic dream of these autonomous cars have transformed into the reality of cars we see now. These cars are nothing short of the new technology advances that have occurred over the past decade. However, with these advances many question whether or not these cars are ready to be sold, due to the fatal accident that occurred May 2016 involving the autonomous Tesla and a white truck. Due to the Tesla not being able to detect the white tractor because of technological issues, the tesla failed to stop, and since the driver was not prepared to steer, it lead to the fatal collision eventually leading to the death of the tesla owner. With the increase of these cars on the road, from companies like BMW, Daimler, Ford, Apple, Uber, and Google, this poses a serious threat to not only the people operating this autonomous vehicle but also to the surrounding drivers. I believe that autonomous cars should not be put on the road, and that these cars are not beneficial to the population.

The purpose of this paper is to look at where the moral responsibilities would lie should a collision happen with an autonomous vehicle. Julian Nida-Rumelin, PhD and President of the interdisciplinary Munich Center for Ethics at the University of Munich, along with his graduate student Alexander Hevelke try to determine philosophically where responsibility should be placed both criminally and financially in the event of a car crash.