It all depends on the motives of the owner.
I think in general the cars will be programmed to avoid any damage.
But what if a company starts providing rides that promise no injury will happen to the passenger?
That's why laws are needed to prevent this from happening in the future.
Side note: in The Netherlands we have an automated sea barrier [1]. The system is made automatic so nobody has to make the decision to close it. So yeah, some systems are programmed to save peoples lives even if this means the lives of others can't be saved.