Public Welfare Paramount Invoked in Autonomous Vehicle Crash Algorithm Design
P · Principle
Individual
http://proethica.org/ontology/case/165#Public_Welfare_Paramount_Invoked_in_Autonomous_Vehicle_Crash_Algorithm_Design
Properties
Instance of
Applied to
Autonomous vehicle crash-avoidance algorithm design recommendation
Balancing with
Algorithmic Harm Distribution Ethics in Autonomous Systems
Client Loyalty
Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits
Concrete expression
Engineer A's risk assessment team must evaluate whether the autonomous vehicle's crash-avoidance algorithm should prioritize passenger safety or minimize total harm to all involved parties — including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists — with the public welfare obligation requiring that the welfare of all affected persons, not merely vehicle occupants, be held paramount in the recommendation
Confidence
0.95
Importance
high
Interpretation
In this context, public welfare paramount requires Engineer A to advocate for a harm-minimization framework that gives weight to the lives and safety of third-party non-passengers, not merely to the commercial interests of the automobile manufacturer or the preferences of vehicle purchasers who might prefer passenger-protective algorithms
Invoked by
Engineer A Autonomous Vehicle Risk Assessment Team Engineer
Tension resolution
Public welfare paramount does not resolve the trolley-problem dilemma definitively, but it requires that the recommendation not categorically subordinate third-party welfare to passenger welfare without explicit ethical justification and stakeholder deliberation
Source Evidence
Source text
does the vehicle's system choose the outcome that will likely result in the greatest potential for safety for the vehicle's passengers or does the vehicle's software system instead choose an option in which the least amount of potential harm is done to any of those involved in an accident
Text references
does the vehicle's software system instead choose an option in which the least amount of potential harm is done to any of those involved in an accident
striking and potentially causing a fatal injury to a pedestrian, cyclist, or motorcycle rider
TTL
@prefix case165: <http://proethica.org/ontology/case/165#> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix proeth: <http://proethica.org/ontology/intermediate#> .
@prefix prov: <http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix xsd: <http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#> .
case165:Public_Welfare_Paramount_Invoked_in_Autonomous_Vehicle_Crash_Algorithm_Design a proeth:PublicWelfareParamount,
owl:NamedIndividual ;
rdfs:label "Public Welfare Paramount Invoked in Autonomous Vehicle Crash Algorithm Design" ;
proeth:appliedto "Autonomous vehicle crash-avoidance algorithm design recommendation" ;
proeth:balancingwith "Algorithmic Harm Distribution Ethics in Autonomous Systems",
"Client Loyalty",
"Faithful Agent Obligation Within Ethical Limits" ;
proeth:conceptCategory "Principle" ;
proeth:concreteexpression "Engineer A's risk assessment team must evaluate whether the autonomous vehicle's crash-avoidance algorithm should prioritize passenger safety or minimize total harm to all involved parties — including pedestrians, cyclists, and motorcyclists — with the public welfare obligation requiring that the welfare of all affected persons, not merely vehicle occupants, be held paramount in the recommendation" ;
proeth:confidence "0.95" ;
proeth:discoveredincase "165" ;
proeth:discoveredinpass "2" ;
proeth:discoveredinsection "facts" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredat "2026-02-27T23:26:19.084798+00:00" ;
proeth:firstdiscoveredincase "165" ;
proeth:generatedattime "2026-02-27T23:26:19.084798+00:00" ;
proeth:importance "high" ;
proeth:interpretation "In this context, public welfare paramount requires Engineer A to advocate for a harm-minimization framework that gives weight to the lives and safety of third-party non-passengers, not merely to the commercial interests of the automobile manufacturer or the preferences of vehicle purchasers who might prefer passenger-protective algorithms" ;
proeth:invokedby "Engineer A Autonomous Vehicle Risk Assessment Team Engineer" ;
proeth:principleclass "Public Welfare Paramount" ;
proeth:sourcetext "does the vehicle's system choose the outcome that will likely result in the greatest potential for safety for the vehicle's passengers or does the vehicle's software system instead choose an option in which the least amount of potential harm is done to any of those involved in an accident" ;
proeth:tensionresolution "Public welfare paramount does not resolve the trolley-problem dilemma definitively, but it requires that the recommendation not categorically subordinate third-party welfare to passenger welfare without explicit ethical justification and stakeholder deliberation" ;
proeth:textreferences "does the vehicle's software system instead choose an option in which the least amount of potential harm is done to any of those involved in an accident",
"striking and potentially causing a fatal injury to a pedestrian, cyclist, or motorcycle rider" ;
proeth:wasattributedto "Case 165 Extraction" ;
prov:generatedAtTime "2026-02-27T23:40:57.916771"^^xsd:dateTime ;
prov:wasGeneratedBy "ProEthica Case 165 Extraction" .
Metadata
Extraction details
Discovered in case
165
Discovered in pass
2
Discovered in section
facts
First discovered
2026-02-27T23:26:19.084798+00:00
First case
165
Generated
2026-02-27T23:26:19.084798+00:00
Attributed to
Case 165 Extraction
Generated
2026-02-27T23:40:57.916771
Generated by
ProEthica Case 165 Extraction