As technology further advances and we as people get closer and closer to the future, the driver-less car will be our source of transportation. Currently, automotive corporations such as BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, and many others are working on an automated car project that is projected to launch within the next five years. All companies are trying to rush the concept to market due to Google being the first to introduce this innovative technology.
Benefactors:
- Reduce the amount of automotive accidents
- Cost efficiency
- Citizens with disabilities or handicaps will be able to have their own form of transportation
- Parking Hassle
Ethical ISSUEs:
- Accident Liability
- System Susceptible to being Hacked
- User Trust with Machine
- Environmental Issue
- Loss of inner Humanity
RESEARCH PAPER: The Ethical Analysis of Driverless Cars
“After a lifetime of driving, repairing and studying automobiles, I have come to an
unavoidable conclusion we are the weakest link in a car. As car components go, human beings
are deeply substandard we have imperfect perception, we are ruled by emotion, and we vary
wildly in quality” (Lloyd Alter). Growing up, the best advice I received from my father was that
one of the most dangerous things that I will ever do in life is drive a car. Statistics show that out
of all the events in life, automotive accidents are the leading cause of death. On average over
15,000 people are killed in car accidents every year. Society as a whole has been progressing to
new innovative technology that provides a safer and more efficient way of doing things for
human beings. The new innovated technology coming to market in the near future is the
driverless car. According to author Jerome Lutin in the article titled The Revolutionary
Development of Self-Driving Vehicles and Implications for the Transportation Engineering
Profession, Lutin discusses how nearly all automotive corporations have been working on an
automated car project. The integration of driverless cars are projected to emerge to the streets
within the next decade. However, some individuals are skeptical about the automated cars
performance on the roads. Through various forms of research, this paper will break down the
advantages and disadvantages of the importation of the driverless car, as well as discuss the
ethical issues surrounding the product and my personal view on the topic.
The first company to announce the driverless car technology and have record of testing
the car in the field was Google. In the article titled Googles Car, the Clute Institute discusses the
technological aspects of Googles automated car prototype from the year 2010. “According to
Google executives at the time, the goal of the Google Car was to help prevent traffic accidents,
free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use”(Google
2010). Although the driverless car has been talked about since the late 1950’s Google was able
to produce the driverless car and make the technology a reality. Google’s driverless car has a
very sophisticated functioning system. The functions of Googles’ driverless car includes a
sophisticated system that integrates proprietary hardware and software, using video cameras,
radar sensors, a laser range finder for the car to be able to visualize traffic, and detailed maps
taken from Google Maps to enable navigation between destinations. Google’s data response
centers process the incoming data relayed from sensors and cameras mounted on Google’s
driverless car in order to provide the car with useful information about its environment. The car
then adapts to the environment through its cameras and laser sensors to read traffic lights,
pedestrians, stop signs, traffic flow, and other road tendencies. The information is then translated
into the physical operation of the vehicle in order for the automated car to function properly and
allow for no human intervention what so ever.
Google’s automated car has logged over 500,000 miles of driverless driving with a record
of no crashes under complete computer control (Lutin). Building on the various functions of the
vehicle, Google has implemented five levels of automation. Level 0 being no automation and the
user has complete control of the car. Levels 1 and 2 include simple automation capabilities such
as cruise control, and the driver is more responsible for controlling the car. Level 3 is more
automation where there is no need to use the steering wheel or pedals, however, the driver is still
responsible to be alert and aware when in use. Lastly, level 4 is complete and total automation of
the vehicle. In level 4 the vehicle is responsible for all safety precautions and driving conditions.
By having different levels of automation, allows for users to still feel in control over their vehicle
and also make the transition easier for individuals trusting computers with fully driving the car.
The newly innovative automation vehicle technology provides many benefits for individuals.
Scientists a long with Engineers believe the driverless car will be beneficial to the
greater good of society for multiple reasons. The main reason being is that a computer will
have less margin for error than a human. That being said the driverless car is intended to make
the road a safer place by reducing the amount of automotive accidents.
According to Newsweek, author Stav Ziv breaks down the amount of car related deaths and injuries in the
United States alone. Ziv explains there is an estimate of nearly 19,000 people killed by an
automotive accident per year and that number continues to increase each year. Building on
that fact, 2.3 million people are seriously injured from car accidents which accumulates to
roughly 152 billion dollars in spending on medical expenses and property damages. The
incorporation of automated cars will drastically reduce both the amount of deaths/injuries as
well as the medical expenses that follow auto accidents. Next, the automated car will allow for
paralyzed people and people with disabilities that limits them from driving a way to be
transported individually instead of relying on another human. The driverless car allows for
people who normally could not get around have the freedom of doing so. Another benefit
would include the user not having to park the car. Driverless cars allow for users to go to their
destinations and the car would park itself as well as pick the user back up from that
destination. When Google tested their product of the driverless car, the system was very
successful in analyzing tendencies of the road. However, Google has had one encounter where
the company proves computer generated driving is safer than human interaction.
In the case study relayed in the article Google’s Driverless Cars Run Into Problem:
Cars With Drivers, author Matt Richtell explains a case where an automated car powered by
the corporation Google was hit by a car controlled by a human driver. The case shows an
instance where Google’s car was stopped at a crosswalk waiting for pedestrians to cross when
it was suddenly rear ended by a human. Here, Richtell is confirming the fact that accidents are
mostly caused by a human error, and that the implementation of automated cars will correct
this dilemma. Computers have a less margin of error than human instinct, one reason being is
that it is impossible for a computer to get distracted when driving. In this case, Googles’ car
was stopped at a crosswalk waiting for pedestrians to cross when it was struck by a human
driver. Other than this case showing that driverless cars are considered to have less error, this
case is also proving that driverless cars are effective in the field of action. The automated car
was preforming the simple precautions of what to do at a crosswalk and the human was at
fault for causing the accident. However, some of the aspects to the driverless car are not all
beneficial and promote skepticism to society.
One form of skepticism for users of the automated car is the accident liability aspect
and the car malfunctioning. In the article Responsibility for Crashes of Autonomous Vehicles:
An Ethical Analysis, author Helvelke proposes the ethical concern of the emerging driverless
car technology. When driverless cars are introduced to the road, who is responsible for the
vehicle if the car crashes and the passengers are injured? Is it considered homicide on the
manufacturer if the passenger dies? Helvelke explains how there needs to be legislation in
place to ensure that the manufacturer is held responsible for any accident that their product is
involved in. Helvelke believes that is the most ethical and reasonable decision to hold the
manufacturer accountable for any people involved in an accident. The corporation is supposed
to not only ensure the quality of the product functioning properly, however, its main focus
should be to ensure the safety of the user. Any malfunction of the product that jeopardizes the
safety/health of any individual should result in various consequences that halts the
manufacturing of the product, as well as provide benefits to the user involved when the
malfunction/accident occurs. Not only is accident liability a concern, another glaring aspect
for the automated car is how susceptible they are to being cyber attacked.
Any device that is connected to the internet has the capabilities of being hacked by
anyone. That being said, with the automated car running on a data sharing system that is
connected to the internet, this proposes an eye-opening question. If the car is ran via the
internet, will these new implemented driverless cars be considered a target for hackers? If
hackers where to gain controllable access to the car, this would cause malfunctions resulting in
many crashes, injuries, and deaths to the user. Some would say hackers would be able to use
the driverless car as a weapon. In the article Connected cars – the next target for hackers,
author Tim Ring discusses how the future of crash-less cars and driverless cars is coming very
rapidly to our roads and how cyber security analysts will need to make these cars difficult to
gain access to not be susceptible to a hack attack. Driverless cars are operating on the internet
which is vulnerable to hackers being able to tap into their networks and have access to
controlling the entire vehicle. Ring, announces the concern if these cars were to be hacked, all
their features will be malfunction. For instance, the vehicle detection technology would not
work and cause the vehicle to crash. The car would not be able to use any of its programmed
functions in order to analyze the road which would result in mal-performance of the car. Ring
goes into detail about previous recall car companies have been through, and explains how
analysts are exposing flaws within the automated car system’s new technology. Car companies
have already hired hackers in order to try and break their automated driverless car system, and
these hackers have succeeded. Ring, gives an example of white-hats from company Lookout
were able to hack Tesla’s model S vehicle and were able to seize control of the entire car. Not
only that but something as simple as a laser pointer where able to create the image of an
inanimate objects in front of the car causing the vehicle to stop. There are various kinks in the
automated vehicle technology that need to be revised. These are some of the concerns for
society.
The overall views of society based on the article AUTOMATED DRIVING –
INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETAL ASPECTS 2 ENTERING THE DEBATE, author Eva Fredrich
explains the social debate of how people think about the integration of driverless cars on the
road. The debate strikes a non-bias point of view on the topic of automated cars and touches
on the fact of liability and social acceptance of the new technology. Despite the currently
stated technical issues, more and more frequently bound up in this debate are the legal and
liability frameworks, future human-machine communication and data transfer, and security
and safety precautions (Fredrich). A long with the liability issue, users believe the transfer of
insurances based on the automated car will be a hassle and expensive. From Fredrich’s study
most of the survey results for the implementation of driverless cars came back against the
topic. Although society seemed to be excited about how the technology has the capabilities to
reduce the amount of accidents on the road. It seems as if individuals are reluctant to letting go
of having complete control over their vehicle and question the liability of the automated
performance on the roads. Most of the returned feedback from individuals were based off their
skepticism and doubt of the benefits the driverless car ultimately intends to achieve. It seems
as if society is against the idea of trusting a machine behind the wheel of a car.
Overall, the integration of driverless cars are coming to our roads faster than we know
it. Although society has skeptical views on the topic regarding the technological issues,
liability, and trust, my personal belief is that the implementation of driverless cars will
produce more beneficiary aspects than negative aspects. With the integration of automated
cars, the amount of automotive accidents would decrease saving an abundant amount of lives
and medical expenses. With 19,000 plus people dying by automotive accidents every year, the
driverless car will be a revolution in saving an abundance amount of lives. By driverless cars
reducing the amount of accidents that means that the car will also reduce traffic due to less
amount of accidents. Not only that but it will be cost efficient in reducing car related damages
from accidents such as medical bills or road damage. The automated car will also allow for
elderly people, people with disabilities, or blind people a way of transportation. Simply, the
driverless car provides so many benefits to society as long as the car functions properly.
Google has proven that the automation technology works as it is programmed to do so making
the margin for errors very slim. Driverless cars will have a direct positive impact on the
greater good of society by making humans lives more simplistic and safe.