Vehicles running into crowds and hitting people were recently used by terrorists both home and abroad but what about driverless cars, they could be a serious threat and we wouldn't know their intentions especially if coordinated, what do you think?
Driverless cars have safety features built into them that keeps them from striking things. Thus they can not be used to mow people down. They go the posted speed limit of the roadway so in down town places where people are more present they will be going 20-25 MPH. Some of the driverless cars have no steering wheel or gas pedal that is accessible by a human thus one can not jump into it and cause it to suddenly speed up and take people out.
KN,
If someone could take over the computer on the driverless car they could make it do whatever they want it to do I think. Also, I've heard of quite a few driverless car accidents. Many were the fault of the human but a few were the driverless car's fault because it didn't think a human would do the stupid thing the human did.
As a accident investigator I have yet to see an accident with a driverless car that was not human caused. I think that driverless cars are much safer and takes out the human factor. I do not think that a terrorist can over ride its computer and make it a threat. They would go the cheaper route and just car jack a normal car.
I doubt that one can easily modify a driverless car to make it a remote control bomb. It would be easier to just use a regular car. When you start messing with the computer and the safety protocols of a driverless car you may cause it to be totally inoperative.
Creak,
Good points about driverless cars. Still, I think terrorists could jack one. KN, you go the easier route, with a bit of research jacking one of these may be quite easy. Then they can control it from afar and it wouldn't be a suicide mission.
Swell, the terrorists behind these things want to be known. They identify themselves by taking credit. But if you mean identifying the specific cell of terrorists then you are correct. That would be difficult and they could pull off more attacks.
So, I worry about safety with these. We need to make absolutely sure they are locked down so no one can usurp control. And, we need to teach them that humans do crazy things and to be ready for it.