Synthesis: Driverless Cars

1

A driverless car (sometimes called a "self-driving car" or an "autonomous car") is a robotic vehicle designed to travel between destinations without a human operator.  in recent years, driverless cars have steadily increased their presence on American and international roadways.  

Supporters of driverless cars cite a number of potential benefits to their widespread adoption.  Driverless cars would potentially offer a drastic reduction in human-driver error--costly in both lost lives and money--as well as increased efficiency in traffic patterns, commuting time, and general road safety.  Despite these merits, critics of driverless cars question the reliability of driverless software, the startup costs of adjusting roads to meet the needs of autonomous vehicles, and the current lack of regulation regarding their use.

Neither side, however, has found easy resolution to the ethical dilemmas raised by driverless cars; that is, how should an autonomous car's software be programmed to "decide" between multiple harmful courses of action in the event of an unavoidable crash?

Carefully read the following sources, including the introductory information for each source.  Write an essay that synthesizes material from at least three of the sources and develops a position that argues what "ethics setting" a driverless car should be programmed to follow. 

Source A (MIT)
Source B (Lin)
Source C (Mill)
Source D (Millar)
Source E (Schwitzgebel)
Source F (Cartoon)
Source G (Chart)

In your response, you should do the following:
1. Respond to the prompt with a thesis that presents a defensible position.
2. Select and use evidence from at least 3 of the provided sources to support your line of reasoning.  Indicate clearly the sources used through direct quotation, paraphrase, or summary.  Sources may be cited as Source A, Source B, etc., or by using the description in parenthesis.
3. Explain how the evidence supports your line of reasoning.
4. Use appropriate grammar and punctuation in communicating your argument.