Yep tons of focus on philosophical sideshows like the trolley problem in these discussions, when autonomous cars just plain _do not work_ in the general case.
If you have enough time to stop if say a kid just jumped in front of you you will stop, if you don’t you don’t have enough time to process all the information around you and gauge the most optimal outcome if you swerve you swerve but that is likely going to happen regardless of what jumps out in front of you simply because that what your instincts are telling you to do.
The best thing an autonomous vehicle can offer is a better response time so you’ll be more likely to stop or to slow down to non/less than fatal velocity.
Drivers are drivers doesn’t matter if it’s humans or robots distracting them with nonsense wouldn’t make them better or safer but rather quite the opposite.
https://arstechnica.com/cars/2019/03/dashcam-video-shows-tes...
There is no right answer to that question, because I didn't specify what the animal is. Whether the animal is a baby deer or a human child will influence your choice. This isn't contrived. When I hit a deer, I made a choice to stay on the road. Had it been a child, I would have swerved, endangering myself in the process.