Please state your destination (other than hell)

Slam on the brakes and run them over.

People are asking what a self driving car should do in all kinds of hypothetical situations. People appear out of nowhere, the driver has to decide, crash their car or hit the people. What if it's a lot of people? What if they are all babies?

Slam on the brakes and run them over.

Given a fraction of a second, that's what people do. They slam on their brakes and run people over. The idea that a person ever thinks "I have a choice, either smash into that 100 year old oak or run over those kids, I'll pick the tree," is ludicrous. If you have time to think that you should already be on your brakes (your self driving car will be).

This is not about ethics. You are not programming the car to kill the pedestrians. You are programming the car to drive. Just like you have been programmed to drive. You can't be ready for every situation. You can't be ready for most situations. Why do you think the average car is about half the width of a highway lane? So we have so much extra space that people can stop paying attention (maybe too much).

People won't want to get in a car that is, in any case, programmed to get into any crash. Do your best to stop the car and minimize problems. That's it. There is no "ethics" problem.