Chris Gerdes

How safe should automated vehicles be? While there are numerous answers to this question, one in particular stands out – the answer implicit in our current traffic code and legal system. Looking at automated vehicles from the perspective of the Duty of Care placed on human drivers, we can derive engineering requirements for safe roads and even resolve the troublesome “Trolley Car” problem. Going further, experiments from the track suggest that future cars will be able to handle emergency maneuvers with the skill of a race driver. Taken together, we can envision automated vehicles that always uphold their duty to others and do their best to avoid crashes when others aren’t so careful.