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Self-driving car bombs?

2 points by oldmancoyote ↗ HN
Are we looking at a future where any hateful person could easily convert a self-driving vehicle into a car bomb? In an America that is becoming increasingly factionalized and hateful, wouldn't this threaten to destabilize society? Should self-driving vehicles be banned? Think about a self-driving tractor-trailer loaded with ammonium nitrate soaked with fuel oil. I am certain there are people in America who would find detonating one attractive. What sort of targets would be attractive to such people? Even a SUV could be devastating.

4 comments

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flukus
Why would they get an expensive self driving car when they can buy a much cheaper drone that's much easier to program a flight path for and doesn't come with pesky pedestrian avoidance algorithms? A shrapnel bomb above a crowd could be much better at killing people because it's got a line of site path to much more of the crowd.

They could do this for the last several years but rarely (or never) do, so I'm not anticipating an upsurge.

ToFab123
You can pack more explosive into a car and have it to drive to a target far away, keeping you out of sight.
banterfoil
You have certainly described a grim future. But if you want to be pessimistic, I feel like drone warfare is far more effective, stealthy, and cheaper.