Self-driving Uber car kills pedestrian in Tempe, AZ

Different cameras, different days. A bulb could have been out the time of the accident.

Either way, it doesn't matter. The car sensors didn't need ambient lighting, and lighting doesn't help if you are forcing the driver to take their eyes off the road.

 

good for him, too bad someone had to die first.

 

The more I learn, the more I say the problem isn't with autonomous cars, but with Uber.

"Uber Technologies Inc. disabled the standard collision-avoidance technology in the Volvo SUV that struck and killed a woman in Arizona last week, according to the auto-parts maker that supplied the vehicle’s radar and camera."
- Uber Disabled Volvo SUV's Safety System Before Fatality (1) - SFGate

Look to history, and that is usually the case.
Guard rails get put up after a fatal accident.
The majority of advances in aviation safety are because of studying and learning from the accidents.

 

if you make a concerted attempt at safety before beginning a program, and something bad happens, it may be unavoidable.
if you make little to none, and just run headlong into the future, it's almost predictable.

 

It sounds like Waymo and the others working on this are of the former. Which doesn't excuse government of dropping the ball on oversight.

Uber is the latter in trying to play catch up with Waymo. This should be reflecting on them, and not autonomous cars in general, for that reason.

 

agreed, and hopefully will wake up some legislators to the potential dangers of self regulation.

 

Like I said...

 

criminal charges to follow?

 

In addition to that the Volvo SUV is taller adding to the blind spot area.

 

Purloined emails on the subject:

Exclusive: Arizona governor and Uber kept self-driving program secret, emails reveal | Technology | The Guardian

 

Was that the whiff of Rattus I detect?

Remember the Dodo....?

 

The earlier Fusion test cars used seven lidars, seven radars and 20 cameras. The newer Volvo test vehicles use a single lidar, 10 radars and seven cameras, Uber said.

 

And they had the factory collision detection disabled.

 

...no wonder Uber immediately suspended it's program upon having the accident...they had a clue it was a bigger problem...

I want to say bean counters will always value profits over doing things right...but that's unfair I suppose

 

sometimes is, sometimes isn't. definitely fair where safety is concerned.

 

It looks like "defective software" contributed to the local death of a 16 year old student using a school crosswalk yesterday afternoon and was hit by a older model silver jeep.

"Assistant Police Chief Mark Schauer said the driver ran a red light at the intersection of Staples Street and Mustang Trail and hit the students. Public Information Officer Gena Pena said it appears speed was also a factor. The 16-year-old girl died at the scene".

More about the "defective" driver: "Records show Holmes has a string of arrests and convictions in Nueces County dating back to 1993.The cases include driving while intoxicated and drug possession, according to online court records." The story goes on to list two more paragraphs about his criminal record. He also fled the scene but lived nearby and was soon arrested.

Autonomous systems can learn from mistakes, some humans..... not so much.