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posted by janrinok on Wednesday October 12 2016, @05:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the no-more-heroes dept.

The technology is new, but the moral conundrum isn't: A self-driving car identifies a group of children running into the road. There is no time to stop. To swerve around them would drive the car into a speeding truck on one side or over a cliff on the other, bringing certain death to anybody inside.

To anyone pushing for a future for autonomous cars, this question has become the elephant in the room, argued over incessantly by lawyers, regulators, and ethicists; it has even been at the center of a human study by Science. Happy to have their names kept in the background of the life-or-death drama, most carmakers have let Google take the lead while making passing reference to ongoing research, investigations, or discussions.

But not Mercedes-Benz. Not anymore.

The world's oldest car maker no longer sees the problem, similar to the question from 1967 known as the Trolley Problem, as unanswerable. Rather than tying itself into moral and ethical knots in a crisis, Mercedes-Benz simply intends to program its self-driving cars to save the people inside the car. Every time.

Is it really a decision based on morality, or because choosing to save the pedestrians is much harder to code?


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  • (Score: 2) by Entropy on Wednesday October 12 2016, @07:20AM

    by Entropy (4228) on Wednesday October 12 2016, @07:20AM (#413329)

    It's stupid for a pedestrian to have right of way if they walk into the middle of a highway(not at a crosswalk). In most parts of the country if they do this and get mowed down it's their own fault...try to be less stupid in your next life.

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  • (Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday October 12 2016, @07:52AM

    by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday October 12 2016, @07:52AM (#413337) Journal

    It's a combination of history, and common sense. Pedestrians should have the right of way. As I pointed out above, we are all pedestrians. Unless you keep your car in your living room, you have to walk to the car. And, unless you park inside your office, you have to walk to the car again to go home.

    The history bit? Well, when motor vehicle laws were being written, automobiles weren't so ubiquitous as they are today. Cars were rare, and lawmakers weren't inclined to grant special rights to car owners. Drive at your own risk, and if you kill someone walking to the store, it's your ass.

    No blanket rule really applies anymore. Today, there are a lot of places where pedestrians really shouldn't be found. The busy intersection in front of Walmart, the previously mentioned interstate highways, and probably more. But, we all have to walk. What about school zones? God help you if you kill a kid in a marked school zone. Doesn't matter if you were only doing 25 MPH, and the kid lowered his head and ran into your car like a goat. It's still going to be your ass.

    Downtown in most towns and small cities? Pedestrians rule. Just accept it. Any park expects you to park the damned car, and enjoy the park on foot. Amusment centers, of any type or size.

    I am a rather aggressive driver, but there are times and places where you need to just slow down, and yeild the right of way to whoever, and whatever.

    And, even if that pedestrian has absolutely no business in whatever place I happen to find him, I certainly don't want to hit him going at highway speeds. It'll screw up your car, it'll screw up your day, and it'll screw up your insurance.

    • (Score: 2) by Entropy on Wednesday October 12 2016, @08:50PM

      by Entropy (4228) on Wednesday October 12 2016, @08:50PM (#413634)

      There are clearly some "pedestrian zones", for lack of a better word. Areas where pedestrians are the primary, and cars need to yield no matter what. Some examples include crosswalks, sidewalks, probably parking lots, and such. Large cities function differently from the rest of the world, of course. In NYC being a pedestrian is a totally different thing than somewhere like Idaho.

      In my opinion a rural or suburban school zone doesn't qualify because most schools are on their own roads nowadays, but they still infect the nearest actual road with a school zone completely annihilating traffic. Does this mean pedestrians should be able to violate pedestrian laws and cross at random points/odd angles/lay in the street? No. It means we should go slower to try to increase safety but not immunize idiocy. If someone is 12 and thinks sitting in the street is OK the world is probably better off if they are waffled.

      In most areas(not large cities) we are no longer a pedestrian society. Except for areas designated for pedestrians cars need to have right of way. If someone wants to risk crossing a highway in dark clothes at night good luck to them, but if they are waffled it's on them.

    • (Score: 3, Funny) by lgw on Wednesday October 12 2016, @08:57PM

      by lgw (2836) on Wednesday October 12 2016, @08:57PM (#413639)

      Pedestrians should have the right of way.

      Get a car, hippie.

      Unless you keep your car in your living room, you have to walk to the car. And, unless you park inside your office, you have to walk to the car again to go home.

      Most places in the US have parking lots adjacent. I'm pretty sure I've never in my life had to cross a street on foot to get from my living room to my car. Do you live someplace with no parking? Why would you do that?

      Pedestrians rule. Just accept it.

      Get a car, hippie.