Future Mercedes-Benz driverless cars will be programmed to prioritise driver and passenger safety at the expense of pedestrians.
Comments by a senior Mercedes-Benz safety manager have again raised ethical questions about the future of driverless car technology.
Debate was sparked again when Christoph von Hugo, manager of driver assistance systems and active safety, said at the Paris Motor Show: "If you know you can save at least one person, at least save that one. Save the one in the car.
"You could sacrifice the car. You could, but then the people you've saved initially, you don't know what happens to them after that in situations that are often very complex, so you save the ones you know you can save."
In other words, if a collision with a pedestrian was inevitable, the car would not deviate off the road and put the occupants at risk to avoid hitting the pedestrian.
Driverless cars have long raised ethical dilemmas because they take out the human element.
While the technology is programmed to save lives and improve road safety by removing human error, every stumble is scrutinised.
Earlier this year, Tesla was investigated after a driver was killed when his car, set to "Autopilot" mode, failed to detect a tractor pulling out in front. However, Tesla said it was the first known fatality in more than 200 million kilometres of Autopilot.
Mercedes-Benz is now developing completely driverless cars, using what it calls Level 4 and Level 5 technology.
The company's Australian-based senior manager for communications, David McCarthy, said there was plenty of time to test and perfect the technology.
"Driverless cars where the driver has no input - that's quite a long way off," he said. "We're talking five to 10 years."
But he said the technology would drastically reduce the number of collisions in the first instance.
He said in cases where a collision was unavoidable, driverless technology would ensure a better outcome.
"At worst, it will reduce the speed of impact. It is going to focus number one on avoiding that collision."
Mercedes-Benz is now trialling Drive Pilot, the company's semi-autonomous car technology, which is about Level 2, Mr McCarthy said.
"The car has 360-degree vision, using a combination of radar and cameras to get a picture of the environment it's operating in."
He discussed the hypothetical situation where a child runs onto the road.
"Your immediate reaction is to apply brakes and steering. Our systems do the same but take into account - are there cars in other lanes? If you take evasive action, you may well hit that car, which might push you in a different direction towards the pedestrian."
He said the technology could assess in a split second what would be the best possible way to avoid that collision.
But he said that, for now, the driver ultimately remains in control.
"The driver always has the ability to counter an action the car makes."
The feedback on the technology to date has been positive, Mr McCarthy said.
"Once people understand and experience the technology, they embrace it.
"Regulators and insurance companies are very interested in it because it will reduce incidents. It will absolutely make for safer roads," he said.
It is said that human error contributes to about 90 per cent of road accidents.
Earlier this year, US research showed that people did not think driverless cars should sacrifice a passenger to save only one pedestrian, but their approval rose with the number of lives that could be spared.
But while participants approved overall of cars that sacrificed passengers for the lives of 10 others, they were less likely to buy the cars themselves.