The Ethics of Car Safety and the Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics

The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics (App A) was first created in 1992 by the Computer Ethics Institute and presented by Dr. Ramon C. Barquins in his paper “In Pursuit of a ‘Ten Commandments’ of Computer Ethics” as a means to create “a set of standards to guide and instruct people in the ethical use of computers.” (1) Computer ethics is about guidelines related to decisions made by computer designers to help lead their actions and assist in the decisions they make. The technological boom of the past three decades has surpassed traditional ethic beliefs; hence Dr. Barquins need to create the ten most important “commandments” for computer applications. As technology advances, initial focus is on learning the technologies and fine tuning the applications of new discoveries. The time has come to focus attention on the ethical issues surrounding technology to ensure that new developments are inline with the continuation of the human race. This holds true for advances in the automotive industry. Every year, car makers design new and improved safety features to catch the eye of prospective buyers. With progress of technology comes the improvement of safety features and the ability of vehicles to assist drivers in avoiding dangerous situations. No one can argue statistics that show reductions in car accident injuries and deaths, but with recent emphasis on accident prevention, automakers are striving to design vehicles that practically drive themselves. With new safety devices in vehicles being based on computer programming, consideration must be taken into account for the failure of machinery. As automotive technology advances, designers should refer back to The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics to ensure sound choices are...

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...ailable provide much more protection than harm to humans. Automotive makers should continue to offer safe features and advance the possibilities of a collision-free future as much as possible. Attention must also be turned to the potential harm new features could cause. Safety features should be a precaution, or safety net, to true accidents that happen. They should not continue to replace bad driving habits that are abundant in our country. By allowing computer technology to provide an instant fix to human error, the error itself is never corrected. When involving something as deadly as vehicle accidents, fixing the error is just as, if not more, critical as providing a safety net. The ninth commandment: thou shalt think about the social consequences of the program you are writing. How far will vehicle safety go until computers are driving the car for us?