The technology that makes autonomous cars possible may be here already, but the legal implications are much more complicated than that. According to the FBI, self-driving vehicles could revolutionize high-speed car chases within a matter of years and criminals could use them as “lethal weapons.”
An unclassified but restricted FBI report obtained by The Guardian says that autonomous cars “will have a high impact on transforming what both law enforcement and its adversaries can operationally do with a car.” More specifically, “bad actors will be able to conduct tasks that require use of both hands or taking one’s eyes off the road which would be impossible today.”
For instance, suspects in an autonomous car could focus all of their efforts to shoot at pursuers, making car chases much more difficult for law enforcers. The report also says that autonomy will make mobility more efficient, but “will also open up greater possibilities for dual-use applications and ways for a car to be more of a potential lethal weapon that it is today.”
Self-driving cars could become self-driving bombs in the hands of terrorists, but they could also help the police keep track of suspects more easily. “Surveillance will be made more effective and easier, with less of a chance that a patrol car will lose sight of a target vehicle,” the report notes.
FBI estimates that autonomous cars could be approved by Congress for use by the American public within the next five to seven years.
By Dan Mihalascu
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