The software isn&#x27;t going to say &quot;screw it, just hit the kid.&quot; It&#x27;s going to be more like what I said: brake to a stop, steer to avoid obstacles. If an obstacle must be hit, then default to going straight.<p>This is <i>already</i> going to be vastly superior to human drivers, who often don&#x27;t bother to brake, or flinch and steer into oncoming traffic for no particularly good reason.<p>After we&#x27;ve cut down the 30,000&#x2F;year death rate from car accidents by a couple of orders of magnitude, if we get start to get desperate about improving safety and have trouble figuring out how, then maybe we can start looking at rare and bizarre occurrences like these, if they ever actually happen.<p>Trying to work out the precise requirements for ethics in autonomous car crash response, when we don&#x27;t have more than the vaguest idea of what kind of crashes they&#x27;ll get into or what kind of responses might be available, is awfully premature.