a child can appear instantly on any street. they can even run into the highway if their parent pulls onto the shoulder for a bathroom break or something.
of course, it's much more likely to happen in a neighborhood than on the highway, so we drive slower in the neighborhood. but anything that can happen eventually will, so there ought to be some policy.
that said, I think there is a certain segment of the population that gets overly excited about mapping the trolley problem onto autonomous driving. I expect that little will change other than the liable party (the car driver vs the company) and it will mostly work out.
sure, but I don't think the whole highway is obligated to slow down for a stopped car on the right shouler, only the lane next to the shoulder (and I would argue that this lane suddenly slowing all the way down to 20mph would create a worse hazard). theoretically the child could make it all the way to to left before being struck. I'm not saying this is likely, just that there is no speed where you can guarantee that you won't hit a pedestrian that is behaving erratically. the best you can do is make it very unlikely in most cases.
of course, it's much more likely to happen in a neighborhood than on the highway, so we drive slower in the neighborhood. but anything that can happen eventually will, so there ought to be some policy.
that said, I think there is a certain segment of the population that gets overly excited about mapping the trolley problem onto autonomous driving. I expect that little will change other than the liable party (the car driver vs the company) and it will mostly work out.