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Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

techcrunch.com

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Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#21

Post by JamilD »

Overtonwindow wrote: post #4

I really hope California isn't overreacting, possibly due to industry pressure from taxis etc. The state should be doing all it can to support, grow, and encourage this innovation.

> The state should be doing all it can to support, grow, and encourage this innovation.

I don't think anyone disagrees. California's been very proactive in promoting and allowing self-driving car trials.

But you can't allow just any driverless car on the road without ensuring that it's safe — that's why there's a permit process for it. This isn't just another app — people's lives are at stake here.

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#22

Post by serge2k »

Uber just doesn't get the whole concept of regulations do they?

I understand violating ones that are "dumb" and hurt your business (e.g. taxi medallions) or those that it's easier to just do it and figure out hte results later (e.g. insurance) but this is literally "get the permit first".

They should process this nice and sloooooooooooow.

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#23

Post by stuckagain »

JamilD wrote: post #19
stuckagain wrote: post #3

Self-driving Uber car blows red signal at crosswalk in SF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CdJ4oae8f4

Updated Uber statement: "This incident was due to human error. This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was not part of the pilot and was not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate." https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/uber-looking-into-incident...

They should release the interior video of the incident, then. It's their car and their employee (not one of their contractors) and with no passenger there's no privacy concern either.

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#24

Post by JumpCrisscross »

JamilD wrote: post #21
Overtonwindow wrote: post #4

I really hope California isn't overreacting, possibly due to industry pressure from taxis etc. The state should be doing all it can to support, grow, and encourage this innovation.

> The state should be doing all it can to support, grow, and encourage this innovation. I don't think anyone disagrees. California's been very proactive in promoting and allowing self-driving car trials. But you can't allow just any driverless car on the road without ensuring that it's safe — that's why there's a permit process for it. This isn't just another app — people's lives are at stake here.

> you can't allow just any driverless car on the road

In San Francisco, no less! I'm a huge fan of self-driving cars. I think they should already be legal in the dead of night in Cupertino and Wyoming. But a high-density urban space is not where you experiment with cars.

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#25

Post by Daviey »

sundaeofshock wrote: post #17
Overtonwindow wrote: post #4

I really hope California isn't overreacting, possibly due to industry pressure from taxis etc. The state should be doing all it can to support, grow, and encourage this innovation.

As someone who uses this cross-walk on occasion, I think the state is reacting just fine.

If the car was driving autonomous or not, there was a driver sat in the drivers seat which is fully responsible for the actions of the car.

If the self-driving capability missed the red light, then it is the drivers responsibility to have intervened and stop the car.

If I did this in a Tesla with autopilot enabled, would all Tesla's be banned in California? I should be punished as the driver in command of the vehicle.

If I did this in an old banged out SUV, would the car be banned? No, i'd received a citation for the offence of running a red.

Which is exactly how this incident should have been handled.

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#26

Post by sp332 »

Overtonwindow wrote: post #4

I really hope California isn't overreacting, possibly due to industry pressure from taxis etc. The state should be doing all it can to support, grow, and encourage this innovation.

There are already 20 companies that have been granted permits. Uber might have been granted one too, but they didn't even apply. https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/autonomous/testi...

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#27

Post by unclebucknasty »

JamilD wrote: post #19
stuckagain wrote: post #3

Self-driving Uber car blows red signal at crosswalk in SF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CdJ4oae8f4

Updated Uber statement: "This incident was due to human error. This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was not part of the pilot and was not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate." https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/uber-looking-into-incident...

Seems like a reckless statement on a couple of fronts. For one, it's openly disrespectful to the human drivers upon whom they've relied to this point--seemingly regarding them as nuisances which must be discarded post-haste.

And, of course, it begs the question: what would their response have been if it was due to a technical glitch, which may yet happen? Their statement could easily be used against them.

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#28

Post by jdale27 »

JamilD wrote: post #19
stuckagain wrote: post #3

Self-driving Uber car blows red signal at crosswalk in SF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CdJ4oae8f4

Updated Uber statement: "This incident was due to human error. This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was not part of the pilot and was not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate." https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/uber-looking-into-incident...

Why on earth should we believe them?

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#29

Post by dictum »

JamilD wrote: post #19
stuckagain wrote: post #3

Self-driving Uber car blows red signal at crosswalk in SF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CdJ4oae8f4

Updated Uber statement: "This incident was due to human error. This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers. This vehicle was not part of the pilot and was not carrying customers. The driver involved has been suspended while we continue to investigate." https://techcrunch.com/2016/12/14/uber-looking-into-incident...

> This incident was due to human error. This is why we believe so much in making the roads safer by building self-driving Ubers.

My new side project is a The Aristrocrats joke, except it ends with "The Gig Economy!"

Re: Uber ordered to stop self-driving vehicle service in San Francisco

#30

Post by goalieca »

dsl wrote: post #8

Uber is a company built on ignoring laws. Everything they did in the beginning was against some form of taxi or car hire regulation, in the name of disruption. (Regardless of what you think of the laws in question, they were still being broken in the eyes of most regulators) I don't know how I feel about that type of corporate philosophy (or Facebook's "move fast break things") in light of projects where people can a…

Uber exemplifies the libertarian / anarchist subculture in tech. It seems to be a winning strategy for them so far.

Edit: to clarify my position. This is why software will never be regarded as an engineering profession. There is a complete disregard for everything that would make us a profession. I'm saddened with the way the world has gone in 2016. It's like we rebelled against adulthood on a global scale.

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