UBER HAS SUSPENDED ITS TESTING of self-driving vehicles after a vehicle on self-driving mode hit and killed a pedestrian in Arizona this week.
Small picture, it’s of course tragic for the person who died and her family.
But while some lamented that Skynet was finally rising up to kill us, a single fatality is the exception that proves the rule, so far: the rule that self-driving vehicles will be safer than those controlled by humans.
BC averages 285 fatalities in crashes per year.
A full 80 per cent of fatal crashes are caused by at least one of three contributing factors: speed, driver impairment or driver distractions.
All of those factors can theoretically be eliminated by taking the human driver out of the equation.
If self-driving technology can be perfected, that means a chance to save up to 228 lives every year here in BC alone.
Driverless cars are a little like harm reduction measures for drug users.
The point is to save lives, period, without some subjective judgement as to whether these particular lives deserve to be saved.
This issue will get a lot of debate in years to come, as legislators grapple with how driverless vehicles will be regulated or even mandated on our roads.
In addition to the logistics, there will be real questions about rights and freedoms.
Using myself as an example, I enjoy the act of driving and consider myself a good and safe driver.
At the same time, I am more likely to trust a well-programmed computer than I am to trust that all my fellow humans on the roads know what they’re doing.
I may someday be asked to sacrifice my freedom to drive at the foot of greater safety for all.
I think I’ll be okay with that, but I doubt I’ll be in the majority.
Good luck to the politicians making those decisions in the years to come.
