Reader poll: If a death by an autonomous car is unavoidable, who should die?

There may be times when an accident or a death is unavoidable while an autonomous car is controlling the wheel.

What should an autonomous car do when such situation arises? How should the designers of the cars program them to respond? This week, we introduce the Tunnel Problem, which describes one such situation and has been a topic of serious debate for philosophers as well as those watching the technology carefully. Let us know what you think by participating in our poll.

If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:

• Should autonomous cars be allowed to speed? Results from our reader poll
• Kids with wheels: Should the unlicensed be allowed to ‘drive’ autonomous cars?
• What do people think about autonomous cars? Results from our reader poll
• What should a robot do? Designing robots that know right from wrong
• Morgan Stanley reports on the economic benefits of driverless cars
• The autonomous driving r/evolution: Call to contribute to Robohub Focus

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Open Roboethics Initiative is a roboethics thinktank concerned with studying robotics-related design and policy issues.

Open Roboethics Initiative is a roboethics thinktank concerned with studying robotics-related design and policy issues.