More than 30,000 people are killed by cars in the U.S. each year, and people working on autonomous-driving technology at companies such as Google and Tesla say any technology that can significantly reduce that figure deserves serious attention.
But even if automated cars can be much safer than conventional ones, they will still be involved in accidents. No software can be perfect. And as self-driving technology matures, regulators and society as a whole will have to decide just how safe these vehicles need to be. Indeed, it has been argued that in some situations autonomous vehicles must be programmed to actively choose which people to harm.
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