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LI Haijian, YANG Silu, LI Yuxuan, ZHAO Xiaohua, CHEN Yan. A Review of the Ethical Dilemmas of Driverless Vehicles[J]. Journal of Transport Information and Safety, 2025, 43(1): 1-14. doi: 10.3963/j.jssn.1674-4861.2025.01.001
Citation: LI Haijian, YANG Silu, LI Yuxuan, ZHAO Xiaohua, CHEN Yan. A Review of the Ethical Dilemmas of Driverless Vehicles[J]. Journal of Transport Information and Safety, 2025, 43(1): 1-14. doi: 10.3963/j.jssn.1674-4861.2025.01.001
shu

A Review of the Ethical Dilemmas of Driverless Vehicles

doi: 10.3963/j.jssn.1674-4861.2025.01.001
  • 1.

    Beijing Engineering Research Center of Urban Transportation Operation Support, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China

  • 2.

    Qinghai Vocational College of Police Officers, Xining 810000, China

  • Received Date: 2024-10-27
    Available Online: 2025-06-27
    Abstract
  • With the rapid advancement of autonomous driving technology, it has demonstrated tremendous potential in enhancing traffic efficiency and safety. However, the ethical issues it raises are becoming increasingly prominent, gradually emerging as a significant constraint to its widespread adoption. This paper aims to explore the core ethical dilemmas in the development of autonomous vehicles from the perspectives of moral philosophy and institutional governance. It focuses on three major areas: algorithmic ethics, social ethics, and legal regulation, covering key topics such as moral decision-making based on utilitarianism and deontology, mechanisms for attributing accident responsibility, and global and domestic legal responses. In terms of algorithmic ethics, utilitarian and deontological approaches, including collision algorithms and moral knobs, offer solutions for ethical conflicts. Regarding responsibility attribution, the traditional human-centered liability model is evolving into a chain-based framework encompassing all stakeholders engaged in designing, producing, and operating autonomous vehicles. As for legal regulation, current legal frameworks suffer from both applicability limitations and regulatory gaps, necessitating the construction of a legal framework that aligns with technological advancements. Future research may further deepen interdisciplinary collaboration and propose more practical solutions in areas such as ethical modeling, responsibility delineation, and institutional design, providing robust ethical support for the safe and sustainable deployment of autonomous vehicles at various levels of automation.

     

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