Last week, I pondered the future — how driverless cars were going to change the rules and etiquette of the road.
For instance, would road rage become a thing of the past if a driver got into a disagreement with a car that didn’t have a driver?
A reader named Craig Cohen had this intriguing scenario: “What if there is going to be a crash?
Cohen wonders about a situation where a driver makes a left across oncoming traffic and a driverless car needs to make an evasive maneuver to avoid hitting that car. Does the autonomous car:
- crash into the single-occupant car making the turn
- swerve to the right toward the curb and run over a dozen people, or
- swerve left into a school bus full of children?
Who programs that stuff into the driverless car? Obviously, it is a moral dilemma — or a kobayashi maru, as “Star Trek” fan Cohen put it.
But where Craig sees a problem, I see an opportunity to sell cars.
Different makers can program their driverless cars differently — and market them accordingly, as the most safe for their occupants or most safe for those around them.
What’s in your garage?
