epawarrior6860 comments

To ask an autonomous vehicle to make life and death decisions regarding who should live an die is absolutely ludicrous and totally unnecessary. THIS IS A NON-ISSUE! Here are the reasons:

In the first place, all cars are required to have seat belts, air bags and a myriad of other safety features which are in place to the save the lives of drivers and passengers alike. As time goes by and autonomous cars become more prevalent these features will be further enhanced and will save even more lives if the car is involved in an accident.

Unfortunately, pedestrians, bike riders, and animals do not have these protective features available. So, in the case of an accident with a car (autonomous or otherwise) they will undoubtedly suffer catastrophic injury and or death if struck by a vehicle.

There is no justifiable reason, moral or otherwise, that should allow a vehicle to swerve or decide that there is a choice to be made regarding whether to hit another living object as opposed to crashing into an inanimate object or going off the road. You are the one surrounded by the car and its safety features–they are not!

When we get in a car as a driver or passenger we readily accept that something bad may happen. This is our conscious decision, and yes, we may be in an accident. But in accepting this decision we must also recognize that we do not have the right to consciously take away the rights of others. Just because someone decided to walk to the store, ride their bike or walk their dog on the sidewalk or crosswalk does not give us, or the car, the right to decide their fate. Our decision was made when we turned the ignition. So take your lumps, hit that concrete bunker or go off the road, but do so with the knowledge that it was your free wheel that made the decision to drive.