Ethics in Autonomous Vehicles: Environment, Health, and Cyber-Security

This article discusses the ethical issues related to autonomous vehicles, focusing on their impact on the environment, public health, and cyber-security. It explores the potential benefits and risks of this technology.

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Ethics
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Introduction
Advancement in technology has made it possible for the development of driverless cars
which have been majorly motivated by forces of opportunity and survival in the motor industry.
The global economy is forecasted to grow significantly as driverless cars become the chief mode
of transportation on our roads. Moreover, hundreds of lives would be saved in the next few
decades as careless human errors will be eliminated. Leaders in motor manufacturing have taken
the challenge of this new innovation and many companies have been contracted to purchase
these vehicles mostly for commercial services. Globally, the introduction of driverless cars will
have increased by 25 percent as many developed countries have given guidelines and policies on
driverless cars.
Sometimes accident are unavoidable and some of the ethical dilemma of self-driving cars
is on whom to save or whom to harm. Recently, an autonomous car killed a pedestrian hence
raising concerns whether the car chose the right decision hence raising questions on the ability of
the cars causing fewer fatalities. Every day, driverless cars might not be faced with life-death
cases but they will be involved in situations of redistributing risk from one person to the other. In
addition, there will be a confusing journey in trusting the driverless on the basis of predictability
and reliability. The way autonomous cars are made, no one can describe them as humans since
they are unpredictable hence making it a challenge to trust them. With technological
advancement posed to change on a daily basis, there is a dilemma whether today’s technology
will be utilized in years to come. Moreover, some tasks are easy for a human to perform
compared to machines such as recognizing faces or evading accidents if need be.

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The issue of environment and health associated with autonomous cars
It clear that the introduction of autonomous vehicles takes people out of the driver’s seat
but that does not mean that people are not responsible for the utilization of the technology.
Moreover, the environmental impact as a result of autonomous cars will be dependent on what
we choose to do with these vehicles. Recent research has shown that transportation contribute to
the highest percentage of gas emission and pollution[1]. In addition, if transportation is not
utilized effectively, energy consumption would rise by 200 percent. The escalation is heavily
dependent on the choice of introducing more vehicles on our roads. However, the introduction of
autonomous vehicles could potentially reduce the energy consumption hence making our
environment healthier.
Due to the reduction in collisions and accidents, there is a projection of huge energy cut if
autonomous vehicles are fully adopted into our systems of transportation. The adoption of
autonomous vehicles would significantly reduce energy consumption and wastage by 90
percent[1]. In addition, the number of car crashes will certainly fall with the introduction of
autonomous vehicles, the production of safety equipment will also fall hence reducing gas
emission from these equipments. Moreover, gas emission from industries that manufactures
these equipment will reduce hence making our environments more friendly. Furthermore,
autonomous vehicles are designed to use green energy hence making them efficient in boosting
fuel economy. Extensive research has indicated that self-driving vehicles utilize fuel effectively
compared to human drivers who tend to ride the gas and brakes more than necessary[2]. Due to
the efficient consumption of necessary fuel, there is minimal emission of pollutants.
A potential downside of autonomous vehicles for the environment is that these cars could
drastically increase the total number of distance traveled by vehicles. Since autonomous cars

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travel faster and easier, car owners may be obliged to travel an extra trip which would have a
detrimental effect on the environment such as damaging the infrastructure. This calls for
government intervention in regulating environment impacts by establishing and implementing
policies that would ensure energy efficiency[3]. Gas emissions and air pollution would be
reduced significantly by the introduction of electric autonomous vehicles.
Another downside of autonomous vehicles is that car commuters would experience
higher levels of obesity, diabetes, and heart diseases. This is mostly associated with vehicle
ownership where people would travel for longer distances because the means of transport is
available. This makes walking, a natural exercise, a prohibitable act if autonomous cars are
introduced hence making public health a serious issue. In addition, the autonomous future would
result to less walking, more sprawl and without control of electric utilization will result in
massive air pollution[3]. Therefore, with many benefits associated with autonomous vehicles
public need to be aware of future pollution and effects on their health.
The issue of cyber-security in autonomous vehicles.
Autonomous vehicles utilize millions of networks and codes that are interconnected to
systems and sensors which have a probability of being manipulated. The compromise of the data
in these vehicles makes it impossible for vehicles owners to safeguard their privacy. This is due
to issues of system jamming, forged vehicle communications, leaked data and physical attacks
which may attack the car system or owners data[4]. Potential attacks on autonomous vehicles
will necessarily need sophisticated equipment which would further increase the cost of the
vehicle. This means that the well up family will have the privilege of traveling in these cars
while the poor will have look for an alternative mean of transportation.

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In recent research, there have been fears of hacking of autonomous vehicles. This does
not only harm the vehicle system but also the people traveling in these vehicles. If a car can be
overridden through its infotainment system, the same can happen in autonomous vehicles[5].
Overreliance of software makes it an open door for hackers to tamper with autonomous vehicles
system which can contribute massive accidents to road users. Moreover, the more the vehicle
become connected to the external environment, there is a higher risk of vulnerabilities that can be
exploited hence making autonomous vehicles less reliable in data safety.
Furthermore, the potential dangers surrounding autonomous vehicles was evident earlier
this year when the car hit a pedestrian. This indicates that the safety of the public and the rides
are not guaranteed when autonomous vehicles are in usage[6]. If the vehicle system can collapse
without any interference, then there would be a massive danger if cyber security is not
guaranteed. The technology risks associated with autonomous vehicles is certainly higher at the
moment hence making this invention challenging to be implemented on our roads.
Autonomous vehicles are exposed to many risks and one of the best strategies to ensure
that these are protected is by ensuring that there is no conflicts, errors, or misconfigurations in
individual components. This ensures that the car will be utilized as a single component rather
than as a unit of cars[4]. Moreover, these cars need to be reassessed and retested before they are
realized to the market to guarantee public safety. In addition, there need to be public sensitization
on cyber-attacks and how to respond to these attacks. Public education ensures that the public is
educated on the risk plugging unknown devices to the car system hence being vulnerable to
cyber-attacks. Major companies involved in the designing and manufacturing of autonomous
vehicles should come together rather than competing in order to reassure the public on the safety
of autonomous vehicles[4].

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Conclusion
Ultimately, autonomous cars can have a massive ability to decrease emissions and make our
surroundings a better place. The possibility for an efficient fuel society is there and we need to
take advantage of it. Cyber-security should be one of the key issues that the developers of
autonomous vehicles should concentrate on to make the desired design of autonomous vehicles.

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References
[1] C.-Y. Chan, “Advancements, prospects, and impacts of automated driving systems,” Int. J.
Transp. Sci. Technol., vol. 6, no. 3, pp. 208–216, Sep. 2017.
[2] L. Alton, “How Self-Driving Cars Could Impact the Environment,” Blue and Green
Tomorrow, 25-May-2018. .
[3] S. Pettigrew, L. Fritschi, and R. Norman, “The Potential Implications of Autonomous
Vehicles in and around the Workplace,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public. Health, vol. 15, no. 9,
Sep. 2018.
[4] B. Sheehan, F. Murphy, M. Mullins, and C. Ryan, “Connected and autonomous vehicles: A
cyber-risk classification framework,” Transp. Res. Part Policy Pract., Nov. 2018.
[5] Uk. M. & Events, “Protecting autonomous vehicles from cyber attacks,” Automotive Testing
Technology International, 24-May-2018. .
[6] “Autonomous Vehicles and the Threat of Hacking,” CPO Magazine, 01-Oct-2018. .

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