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Comment by dv_dt | Hacker News Reader

Given that an automated truck will follow a certain safety framework, it's interesting to contemplate if there might be automated truck pirates.

Jam mobile connectivity, run the truck off the road by herding it with other vehicles, then break in and run-away with the goods or the entire trailer for that matter.

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You can also do that with a human in the truck. I'm not convinced that it will happen more often with automated trucks.

Most humans will keep driving, even without mobile connectivity. Also, destroying electronic witnesses isn't (yet) murder.

This is one of many reasons we will still need humans present, if only in a guard capacity.

Meanwhile, cargo ship companies are looking toward automation and remote control to get humans off the water. Pirates aren't scared of humans being on board, and in some cases they prefer it, because a human crew is worth more ransom.

this can be deferred to local security companies with nation-wide contracts.

If a cargo was valuable enough, a driver's life would only be a collateral damage. Furthermore, all (non military or security) personnel training programs I've encountered specifically highlights, that in a case of armed robbery, do not resist, obey and do not escalate conflict in any other manner while trying to call help unnoticed.

Granted, but a human guard nevertheless presents a problem for robbers.

Do you take the guard hostage? Do you kill them? Will they themselves be armed? Will they put up a fight, training or no training? If you try aggressively to bring their vehicle to a halt, will they concede immediately (as an autonomous vehicle likely would), or will they try ramming your vehicle?

A human guard is an unknown quantity, and any crimes you commit against their person are in a different league to the theft of the cargo.

Your house sits empty all day and nobody robs it. Video cameras work pretty well for this if it becomes a problem. Great to live in a country with rule of law.

Trucks routinely carry cargo worth many thousand times the value of the average household's possessions.

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