Self-driving cars could kill hundreds but save tens of thousands, Toyota executive says

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CLOSE Automakers are adding advanced electronic safety features as they take one more step toward a world of self-driving cars. (March 27) AP

Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz. (Photo: Cooper Neill)

NEW YORK — Self-driving cars could kill hundreds of people every year in the early going but save many more lives, a Toyota executive said Thursday at an event near the New York Auto Show.

After a self-driving Uber car killed a pedestrian in Arizona earlier this month, concerns about the movement toward autonomous transportation have escalated.

But Toyota North America CEO Jim Lentz said Thursday that more deaths are coming as automakers and tech companies pursue self-driving vehicles.

"The reality is there will be mistakes along the way," he said at a Reuters news event moderated by reporter David Shepardson. "A hundred or 500 or a thousand people could lose their lives in accidents like we’ve seen in Arizona."

The question is whether it's worth it if self-driving cars also avert tens of thousands of deadly accidents every year.

Lentz said Americans aren't yet ready to accept that paradigm.

"That’s really going to slow down the adoption of autonomous driving," he said.

Lentz estimated that autonomous vehicles could eventually save 35,000 lives annually, representing the 98% of deadly crashes blamed on driver error.

The auto industry needs to "convince consumers that the idea of the computer driving your car" can be "a good thing," Lentz said.

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Lentz's comments came after Toyota quickly suspended its own self-driving car tests following the Uber crash.

But the suspension won't last long, he said.

"I think we’ll be testing again soon," he said. "The reason that we paused was more because we were concerned about the impact it had on our drivers, not necessarily our technology."

In "a short period of time," Toyota will resume tests, he said.

The company has set a goal of introducing a system that can partially drive the vehicle by the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.

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murfinator55 on March 30th, 2018 at 01:05 UTC »

I don't think people think about the fact that on any given flight you're on, the plane flies itself 90% of the time

hawkmoon77 on March 29th, 2018 at 22:01 UTC »

It would also shift liability from the driver to the manufacturer and in the event of an "incident" may require a systematic shutdown of the technology across the fleet until an investigation is conducted and the problem is fixed. Something very tricky in AI since the factors behind the AI's decision may not be knowable.

dontpet on March 29th, 2018 at 21:28 UTC »

Being logical about risk has always been a challenge for us meat bags.

Edit: got a message that the comment wasn't long enough.............