In the second Harry Potter book, Mrs. Weasley tells her daughter, Ginny, to “never trust anything that can think for itself if you can’t see where it keeps its brain.” It’s pretty good advice; but what do you do when the object is your car, and its “brain” is what handles the act of driving?

An Israeli company called Mobileye has produced some of the most cutting-edge cameras in the world, increasing the safety of drivers, passengers and pedestrians everywhere. Now they’re working on a program that could lead to self-driving cars. They call it an “Automatic co-pilot,” aimed at “dramatically reducing the amount of overload information a driver has to personally manage.” Unlike the Google autonomous car, which was originally presented without a steering wheel or pedals, Mobileye’s product seems to work with whatever car you own, allowing you to take your hands off the wheel while you drive.

The dangers of self-driving cars

You might think that eliminating the possibility of human error – aleading cause in car crashes – would make driving safer for everyone. But how safe do we feel leaving our lives in the hands of a machine that could malfunction at any time?

Another crucial issue comes in the form of liability: if you’re injured in an accident by a person who’s technically not driving the car that hits you, is the owner of that car still liable if you’re hurt? Is the car company? Can you be ticketed if your car is driving itself recklessly – or if it crashes, does it become a product liability lawsuit? We just don’t know yet.

The idea of the autonomous car is, let’s face it, really cool – but that doesn’t make it safe. There are millions of drivers in Tennessee, and their driving can be a bit sporadic. A car that can detect minute changes in velocity of other cars might keep you from crashing, but it could also cause an accident if its circuits are overloaded by the very information it’s supposed to protect us from.

Maybe Mrs. Weasley is right after all; we might not be quite ready for a car that thinks for itself, especially if its “brain” is responsible for the safety of the drivers and the people around them.  We’re not sure the risk of an accident is worth the novelty of a futuristic toy.