Government's Response to Ethical Dilemmas in Autonomous Vehicle Accidents: An Australian Policy Evaluation

Amir Rafiee, Amir Rafiee, Hugh Breakey, Yong Wu, Yong Wu, Abdul Sattar, Abdul Sattar

2024

Abstract

As Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) rapidly progress and become widely deployed, governments worldwide grapple with addressing the ethical challenges associated with AVs in dilemma situations that result in loss of human life. They are tackling these issues through the formulation of policies and guidelines, the establish-ment of dedicated research centres exploring the ethical implications of AVs, and seeking public opinions on how self-driving cars should handle such moral dilemmas. In this paper, we will evaluate the Australian government’s strategies for addressing the ethical issues related to AV accidents. We will critique the Decision Regulation Impact Statement (DRIS) released by the National Transport Commission (NTC) in 2018, which assessed the safety assurance options for Automated Driving Systems (ADSs). We will critically examine the NTC’s decision to exclude ethical considerations for AVs from the DRIS and the Automated Driving System Entity’s (ADSE) Statement of Compliance. We will contend that safety and ethics are intrinsically linked. Furthermore, we argue that relying solely on the safety criteria may prove inadequate when addressing ethical dilemmas. Consequently, we advocate for the inclusion of AV ethical considerations, especially in complex ethical dilemmas, in future dialogues, even if a clear consensus on ethical decision-making by ADSs remains elusive. In conclusion, we will propose recommendations for the Australian government to enhance the development, deployment, and acceptance of AV technology.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Rafiee A., Breakey H., Wu Y. and Sattar A. (2024). Government's Response to Ethical Dilemmas in Autonomous Vehicle Accidents: An Australian Policy Evaluation. In Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 3: ICAART; ISBN 978-989-758-680-4, SciTePress, pages 1152-1161. DOI: 10.5220/0012451200003636

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icaart24,
author={Amir Rafiee and Hugh Breakey and Yong Wu and Abdul Sattar},
title={Government's Response to Ethical Dilemmas in Autonomous Vehicle Accidents: An Australian Policy Evaluation},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 3: ICAART},
year={2024},
pages={1152-1161},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0012451200003636},
isbn={978-989-758-680-4},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Agents and Artificial Intelligence - Volume 3: ICAART
TI - Government's Response to Ethical Dilemmas in Autonomous Vehicle Accidents: An Australian Policy Evaluation
SN - 978-989-758-680-4
AU - Rafiee A.
AU - Breakey H.
AU - Wu Y.
AU - Sattar A.
PY - 2024
SP - 1152
EP - 1161
DO - 10.5220/0012451200003636
PB - SciTePress