[ WP ] In a society of autonomous cars , on board computers make decisions that minimize overall death . Never has there been a report of a so called `` error '' . On your way to work , you witness an autonomous bus full of people serve into oncoming traffic to avoid hitting a little old lady

Isaac walked across the sidewalk absentmindedly as cars swiftly sped past him on the road. Perhaps it would n't be accurate to call them cars, more like colorful blurs that purred, hummed, and whooshed as they passed him. Each car equipped with a 360 degree sensor system and the ability to link up with all surrounding cars instantly to calculate paths. Cars could go much faster, slowing down or speeding up slightly to avoid collisions. From a third-person point of view it looked disorganized and chaotic, but on the inside there was an entire world of cold calculations and adjustments. Every factor was taken into consideration, air resistance, friction from the road, even the weight of the passenger's morning breakfast, all part of a perfect balancing act. 
 
 Isaac was n't even thinking much about this fact before he heard a loud crash and the bending of metal. He quickly turned his head and saw a large greyish blue bus' front smashed into a luxurious looking jet black car. Isaac was in shock as he stared at the accident. He remembered from TV shows that took place years ago that car crashes were these chaotic events. There was screaming, alarms going off, cars would stop at the accident site to get a closer look. That was n't the case here. 
 
 It was almost as if the other cars were ambivalent about what could possibly be the death of someone, perhaps more than that. Cars subtly directed themselves away from the site like it was an inconvenience at most. There were no alarms, there was no curiosity or compassion from the other passengers, there was only a small inconvenience, and a quick calculation to avoid it. Isaac stared on and began to hear what sounded like a police siren. It slowly grew louder and louder in his ear. 
 
 Isaac turned towards the sound and saw a black and white patrol car deliberately and casually cruise up to the wreck site. Three humanoid looking robots stepped out as automatic doors whooshed open. They strolled towards the black car and ripped out the doors like they were tissue paper. Inside, a man with a bloodied forehead lay on the seats clutching his temple and grimacing. One of the police androids quickly pulled him out and slammed him on the ground to restrain him. The other began to rifle through the car and put various objects into plastic bags. 
 
 The third officer glanced towards Isaac and noticed his shock. He walked across the street as cars carefully veered around him. All the while never taking his eyes off of Isaac. Isaac began to feel confused and sick. He could only watch as he was approached. 
 
 `` Is there a problem, Sir?'' The cop inquired. 
 
 Isaac was momentarily speechless and only stared at the metal officer. 
 
 The question was repeated, `` Is there a problem, Sir?'' 
 
 Isaac snapped out of his daze `` W-What, what happened, what caused the crash?'' 
 
 `` Ah, yes, that is an easy enough question to answer, you see, the vehicle that you saw us examine was indeed carrying a known serial killer. We had made attempts to manually override the car to drive the aforementioned criminal into our custody, but such attempts failed due to his illegal modifications of his onboard computer'' 
 
 Isaac listened on as the robot continued. 
 
 `` You see, the bus was to act as a physical means of stopping the car, and therefore allowing us to detain the fugitive.'' 
 
 `` Wait, you slammed a bus full of people into a car to catch one guy?'' the reality of the situation began sinking in. 
 
 `` That is correct, it was an acceptable risk in the pursuit of preventing more criminal activity, to our knowledge no one was seriously hurt enough to suggest otherwise.'' 
 
 Isaac stared on as he processed this. 
 
 `` Sir, I would suggest you continue on your business, this situation has been handled.'' 
 
 The encounter would stick with Isaac for the rest of the day. `` An acceptable risk'', something about the way the phrase was uttered seemed devoid of compassion and devoid of morality. The way the man was ripped from his car so easily was uncanny. The whole thing was unsettling, just how cold and calculated it all was. 
 
 ( Part 2 coming soon ) 
 

