LE3 .A278 2020

2020

Mutlu, Can

Acadia University

Bachelor of Arts

Honours

Political Science

Politics

Autonomous vehicles are the future and their presence on the road is rapidly approaching. These cars will no longer require a human to physically drive them, resulting in a new form of driving. This new way of driving will present many uncertainties to society. Societies have vigorous regulations in place for the operation of vehicles, these regulations will become inapplicable to autonomous cars.Should the autonomous vehicle industry be regulated? What kinds of standards will the new auto industry be held to in relation to these vehicles? What changes will have to be implemented into the insurance industry? Governments have the overarching responsibility to ensure the protection of the public. Regulation of this new activity will be required in order to ensure standards of the vehicles themselves and overall public safety. This project examines the history of government regulation of the automobile industry and also examines the implications resulting from innovative transitions in other industries, such as airplane industry. The airplane industry has moved from being solely human-operated to include autonomous mechanisms such as auto-pilot. This thesis focuses on why government regulation is necessary for the implementation of autonomous vehicles in society. It also employs an ethical framework as part of this analysis and will examine theories of accidents in relation to this issue. These theories, such as Paul Virilio’s theory on accidents explain why government regulation is needed in order to create new regulations needed for this innovation. Accidents are a part of society. Autonomous cars will bring new accidents with them. Regulation is needed to mitigate the possible accidents and damages these new cars present to society.

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https://scholar.acadiau.ca/islandora/object/theses:3394