With Driverless Cars, a Safety Dilemma Arises: Would you buy a car that might decide to kill you? [View all]

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With Driverless Cars, a Safety Dilemma Arises

Survey respondents say cars should try to protect as many pedestrians as possible in an accident scenario

By Amy Dockser Marcus
[e-mail]

June 23, 2016 2:00 p.m. ET

Would you buy a car that might decide to kill you?

It is a question social-science researchers are exploring amid the development of driverless cars. While commercial applications may be years away, any fully autonomous vehicle that eventually takes to the road will need to make decisions—like whether to swerve to miss one pedestrian at the risk of hitting another. ... Many ethicists argue that a public conversation should be part of the development process.

In a study published in Science, researchers found people want the cars to be programmed to minimize casualties while on the road. But when asked about what kind of vehicle they might actually purchase, they chose a car that would protect the car occupants first. ... The paper describes a series of online surveys that posited various scenarios.

In one, participants were asked to imagine that they are in a self-driving vehicle traveling at the speed limit. Out of nowhere, 10 pedestrians appear in the direct path of the car. Should engineers program the car to swerve off the road in such instances, killing the car occupant but leaving the 10 pedestrians unharmed, or keep going, killing the 10 people?