Moral Dilemmas of Self-Driving Cars

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of some of the most important ethical issues related to autonomous vehicles, also known as self-driving cars. The chapter begins with a discussion of ethical issues related to different levels and kinds of autonomation in cars. It next considers issues having to do with safety precautions, and after that turns to issues related to risks created by self-driving cars. The chapter then discusses the trolley problem, empirical approaches to the ethics of self-driving cars, traditional moral theories, and, lastly, questions related to moral responsibility for harm caused by self-driving cars.