Do you trust autonomous (robo) vehicles? And who should be responsible for any related accidents?
We often cover software topics on ProductHunt, but sometimes we overlook the fact that tech can be felt most in the physical world (hardware).
As of mid-2024, there have been approximately 3,979 reported incidents involving autonomous vehicles (AVs) in the United States since reporting began in 2019. Source
And yesterday, I read an article that Amazon-owned autonomous vehicle company Zoox has suspended driverless testing and voluntarily removed its software after its robotaxi crashed in Las Vegas.
I still think that man causes the most accidents, but we are more sensitive to something relatively new/unknown (in this case, autonomous vehicles.
Do you trust robotaxis more than humans, and would you use their services?
Who should be responsible when an autonomous car crashes?
(The software developers? The car manufacturer? The company operating the fleet? The AI? Or?)
My take: I am still hesitant. Personally, I would use autonomous vehicles only for goods transport in separate infrastructure and wouldn’t mix up too many human-driven vehicles with those autonomous.
Love to hear your Point of view.
Replies
Good thread as always, Nika. Robotaxis are something that big companies, including Google, have been experimenting with for a very long time. They are not perfect, but they keep improving over time, especially when you consider the crashes they have had. They still need to perfectionate and yes, I trust them because I think humans are more prone to errors.
There might be different factors why an autonomous car crashes. One reason is that these cars are not trained for all the different situations that might happen on the road.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@eljo_prifti I think that the position of the person within the vehicle can also be safer when you sit in the back rather than in the front. (as it is in robotaxis)
But as you said, humans are prone to errors, and it's enough for a single human to make a mistake on the street, and the robovehicle might not react quickly enough. That’s why I would create a separate system.
I’ve only tried a few at tech shows, but honestly, I don’t think I could fully trust an autonomous car until every car on the road is upgraded... so it doesn’t have to rely on sensors or cameras to drive.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@lakshya_singh This is also a good point. I am just thinking how dangerous it could be when on the road will be some crazy guy intentionally causing car crashes and accidents manually. What would be the responses of other robocars?
Kalyxa
I’ve been following AVs for a while, and I’m still on the fence. I get the logic—machines don’t get drunk, distracted, or tired—but the edge cases in real-world driving are wild. I’d trust them more in controlled environments (like logistics or last-mile delivery) than on busy urban roads with unpredictable human behavior.
Responsibility-wise? It has to be shared: the company operating the fleet, the developers, and the regulators. It can't fall on just one party when things go wrong.
Curious how public trust evolves over the next few years.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@parth_ahir I completely agree. Humans are more unpredictable and dangerous. And here's the real problem: When do robots protect humans from humans themselves, and how is a robot "going to confess or come to terms with the fact that it has harmed a human?"
ZapDigits
Would be interesting to see comparison with the numbers of non autonomous vehicle accidents.
minimalist phone: creating folders
@malithmcrdev That's what I would like to see too :)
ZapDigits
@busmark_w_nika Whats your guess? better or worse?
minimalist phone: creating folders
@malithmcrdev Of course, there are more human drivers, so there will be more accidents with them. :)