Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

reuters.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

221–230 of 1001 posts

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#221

Post by rjvir »

w_t_payne wrote: post #51

To ensure that all automotive software incorporates lessons learned from such fatalities, it would be beneficial to develop a common data set of (mostly synthetic) data replicating accident and 'near miss' scenarios. As we understand more about the risks associated with autonomous driving, we should expand and enrich this data-set, and to ensure public safety, testing against such a dataset should be part of NHTSA /…

Why would Uber agree to such regulations?

They were unwilling to legally obtain a self-driving license in California because they did not want to report "disengagements" (situations in which a human driver has to intervene).

Uber would just set their self-driving cars free and eat whatever fine/punishment comes with it.

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#222

Post by dmode »

I know when Uber was stopped by CA DMV to operate its self driving cars without a permit, the Arizona governor went all out to promote the state as a beacon of business friendliness and deregulation etc. etc. Perhaps, when something is as critical as self-driving cars going around along with pedestrians and bikes and other vehicles, a more cautious and deliberate approach is warranted ?

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#223

Post by Twisell »

jdietrich wrote: post #185
leggomylibro wrote: post #9

FTA: "The Uber vehicle was reportedly driving early Monday when a woman walking outside of the crosswalk was struck. ... Tempe Police says the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash and a vehicle operator was also behind the wheel." That's a very bad look; the whole point of self-driving cars is that they can react to unexpected circumstances much more quickly than a human operator, such as when some…

> That's a very bad look; the whole point of self-driving cars is that they can react to unexpected circumstances much more quickly than a human operator, such as when someone walks out into the road. Some of these accidents are unpreventable by the (autonomous) driver. If a pedestrian suddenly rushes out into the street or a cyclist swerves into your path, the deciding factor is often simply the coefficient of frict…

Yet this tragic accident will now set a precedent and finally start to scratch the delicate unspoken question: Who is responsible now?

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#224

Post by jonnyreiss »

timmaah wrote: post #32

The video mentions she was on a bike and shows a mangled bicycle. Also the line markings on the street indicate there is a bike lane to the left of a right turn lane. Definitely very bad. https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4369934,-111.9429875,3a,75y,...

Unfortunately, this is a design that is pretty common in many of Tempe's major intersections. I pass through a similiar intersection biking home from ASU and have had multiple close calls with human drivers.

Anecdata: The times I have interacted with one of Uber's autonomous vehicles at this intersection, they tend to hit the brakes pretty hard as they are about to enter the turn lane and I am around 10ft behind them. All of my interactions with them, however, have been during the day, and it was unclear if it was the human driver in control.

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#225

Post by Tiktaalik »

In the early 20th century the automobile industry mobilized to downplay the deadly threat automobiles posed to pedestrians, and lobbied to create new laws to frame pedestrians as being at fault instead of car drivers (eg. jaywalking).

I expect we'll soon see tech companies do the same in order to favour their autonomous automobile businesses at the expense of pedestrians and cyclists.

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#226

Post by Axsuul »

matt4077 wrote: post #42

Why am I not surprised that, among all the teams competing in this space, many of which have clocked in far more miles than them, Uber is the first one to kill someone? This may well just be bad luck. But I cannot shake the feeling that if Uber started an ice cream venture, they would store their molasses on a hill in a Boston. The only way to get “humanity” associated with Uber would involve an Uber zeppelin. Or it’…

You mentioned bad luck and that could very well be it. Unless Uber starts having more incidents, it isn't fair to say that Uber's technology is inferior.

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#227

Post by toomuchtodo »

rjvir wrote: post #221
w_t_payne wrote: post #51

To ensure that all automotive software incorporates lessons learned from such fatalities, it would be beneficial to develop a common data set of (mostly synthetic) data replicating accident and 'near miss' scenarios. As we understand more about the risks associated with autonomous driving, we should expand and enrich this data-set, and to ensure public safety, testing against such a dataset should be part of NHTSA /…

Why would Uber agree to such regulations? They were unwilling to legally obtain a self-driving license in California because they did not want to report "disengagements" (situations in which a human driver has to intervene). Uber would just set their self-driving cars free and eat whatever fine/punishment comes with it.

It would be required by law. Violating the law would hold corporate officers criminally responsible.

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#228

Post by flexie »

gaius wrote: post #146
pcthrowaway wrote: post #65

The people leading the development should demonstrate that they can stop for pedestrians by personally jumping out in front of them on a closed test road. If they're not able to demonstrate this, they shouldn't be putting them on public roads.

The ancient Romans would have the civil engineer stand under the bridge they'd just built while a Legion marched over it. That's why Roman structures are still around today!

Heard a similar myth about a Danish king. We was tired of cannons blowing up so he ordered the manufacturer to sit on top of the cannon when it was fired the first time.

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#229

Post by kartan »

jeremynixon wrote: post #15

Important and and missing: "[Uber] said it had suspended testing of its self-driving cars in Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto"[1] 1: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/uber-driverles...

Again... 'Uber has temporarily suspended the testing of its self-driving cars following the crash of one of them in Tempe, Ariz. The ride-hailing company had also been conducting experiments in Pittsburgh and San Francisco.'

I was resumed shortly after.

27 Mar 2017 (1 year ago)

https://spectrum.ieee.org/cars-that-think/transportation/sel...

Re: Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

#230

Post by steaknsteak »

timmaah wrote: post #32

The video mentions she was on a bike and shows a mangled bicycle. Also the line markings on the street indicate there is a bike lane to the left of a right turn lane. Definitely very bad. https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4369934,-111.9429875,3a,75y,...

The video says bicyclist and shows a bicycle, while the written article says pedestrian and said the car hit "a woman walking"... I'm confused as to why there is a contradiction, but considering the video shot of the bicycle I assume you're correct
Post reply on HN