Ethics and driverless cars

© Norbert Aepli, CC BY 3.0

An ethics committee has been set up in this regard in Germany, the country hosting a large number of car makers working on this technology.

Made up of consultants in ethics, law and technology, the committee has already outlined the initial guidelines of autonomous driving.

According to these guidelines, the software on board the vehicle must be programmed to avoid by all means striking people.
This means that whenever the accident is inevitable, the software is required to choose the move that will be least prejudicial to individuals, even if that entails destruction of property or death of animals wandering around the roads.