Jesse Kirkpatrick and Ryan Jenkins discuss in Slate how the tragic crash in Arizona might impact the future of self-driving cars.
On Sunday night, a self-driving Uber struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. This appears to be the first fatality in which a self-driving car was involved. The facts of the case remain unclear, and interpretation of the events will likely change as the local authorities and the National Transportation Safety Board investigate. And while a tremendous amount of ink had already been spilled about the looming ethical challenges of autonomous vehicles—both in academia and public fora—this case ultimately might not help us settle the burning issues that surround this new technology.