Singapore, Nov. 14 -- It is critical to ensure that the in-built safeguards of autonomous vehicles (AVs) can handle unpredictable challenges on the road (Autonomous vehicles put to the test, Oct 29).
In theory, AVs can react to most situations - a sudden obstacle on the road, abrupt stopping of a vehicle ahead, or unsignalled junctions - significantly faster and with greater composure than any human operator ever could.
These are all important advantages.
I am concerned, however, that AVs may not be adequately equipped to handle the kinds of unpredictable challenges otherwise addressed by human intuition.
For instance, will an AV be able to make the largely subjective judgment that a set of traffic lights is providing inaccurate sig...