Self-driving Uber car kills Arizona woman crossing street

Avatar image for dernman
dernman

35919

Forum Posts

10092

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 9

#1  Edited By dernman

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/self-driving-uber-car-kills-arizona-woman-crossing-street/ar-BBKqSzV?li=BBmkt5R&ocid=spartandhp

TEMPE, Ariz./SAN FRANCISCO — An Uber self-driving car hit and killed a woman crossing the street in Arizona, police said on Monday, marking the first fatality caused by an autonomous vehicle and a potential blow to the technology expected to transform transportation.

The ride services company said it was suspending North American tests of its self-driving vehicles, which are currently going on in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Toronto.

So-called robot cars, when fully developed by companies including Uber, Alphabet Inc and General Motors Co , are expected to drastically cut down on motor vehicle fatalities and create billion-dollar businesses. But Monday's accident underscored the possible challenges ahead for the promising technology as the cars confront real-world situations involving real people.

U.S. lawmakers have been debating legislation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars.

"This tragic accident underscores why we need to be exceptionally cautious when testing and deploying autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads," said Democratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the transportation committee, in a statement.

Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle outside the crosswalk on a four-lane road in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe about 10 p.m. MST Sunday (0400 GMT Monday) when she was struck by the Uber vehicle traveling at about 40 miles per hour (65 km per hour), police said. The car was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel.

Herzberg later died from her injuries in a hospital, police said.

Local television footage of the scene showed a crumpled bike and a Volvo XC90 SUV with a smashed-in front. It was unknown whether Herzberg was on foot or on a bike.

Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by China's Geely , confirmed its vehicle was involved in the crash but said the software controlling the SUV was not its own.

U.S. federal safety regulators were sending teams to investigate the crash. Canada's transportation ministry in Ontario, where Uber conducts testing, also said it was reviewing the accident.

WILD WEST

Uber and Waymo on Friday urged Congress to pass sweeping legislation to speed the introduction of self-driving cars into the United States. Some congressional Democrats have blocked the legislation over safety concerns, and Monday's fatality could hamper passage of the bill, congressional aides said Monday.

Safety advocates called for a national moratorium on all robot car testing on public roads.

"Arizona has been the wild west of robot car testing with virtually no regulations in place," said Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit consumer advocacy group, in a statement. "That's why Uber and Waymo test there. When there's no sheriff in town, people get killed."

Arizona has opened its arms to companies testing self-driving vehicles as a means to economic growth and jobs. Republican Governor Doug Ducey reached out to Uber in 2016 after California regulators cracked down on the company over its failure to obtain testing permits.

Self-driving cars being tested routinely get into fender-benders with other vehicles. Last week, a self-driving Uber crashed with another vehicle in Pittsburgh, local news reported. There were no injuries.

A year ago, Uber temporarily grounded its self-driving cars for a few days following a crash with another car in Tempe. The company has been the subject of a number of complaints about its autonomous vehicles, but the company has said the cars were being driven by a human driver at the time of the incidents.

ESSENTIAL TO UBER'S SUCCESS

Uber has said its ability to build autonomous cars is essential to its success in the rapidly changing transportation industry. The company envisions a network of autonomous cars that would be summoned through the Uber app that would supplement - and eventually replace - human-driven cars.

Uber has logged 2 million self-driving miles (3.2 million km) through December. The company has more than 100 autonomous cars testing on the roads of the greater Phoenix area, the company's prime testing ground due to the state's loose regulations and hospitable weather. Rain, snow and ice are particularly challenging for autonomous cars. The company also tests in Pittsburgh and Toronto.

Concerns over the safety of autonomous vehicles flared after a July 2016 fatality involving a Tesla Inc automobile with a partially autonomous system that required human supervision. Safety regulators later determined Tesla was not at fault.

Uber has weathered a series of crises, including sexual harassment claims, using a tracking tool to avoid government officials, and a lawsuit brought by competitor Waymo alleging theft of self-driving trade secrets. Uber settled that lawsuit last month for $245 million.

That settlement was largely seen as a means for Uber to resume work on autonomous cars without the distraction of litigation, as it hustles to catch up with Waymo, widely seen as having the most advanced cars in the industry.

I'm probably going to hell for this but one of my thoughts was.

So it begins. The first strike in the coming robot apocalypse.

--------------------

Anyway what are your thoughts. Does this change your views on self driving cars?

Avatar image for deactivated-5d2b83d5a0d79
deactivated-5d2b83d5a0d79

12104

Forum Posts

19

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Avatar image for gunmetalgrey
gunmetalgrey

4980

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

#3  Edited By gunmetalgrey

@dernman said:

Does this change your views on self driving cars?

No. This is hardly the first fatality in the development of new transportation technologies.

As unfortunate as it was and as heartbreaking as it must be for the loved ones of the victim, it will all just be chalked up as a statistic at the end of this pursuit.

Avatar image for dernman
dernman

35919

Forum Posts

10092

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 9

@gunmetalgrey: I agree. I think the technology should be perfected to cut down on drunk drivers. Though that will be so far down the road before its affordable and it sucks that more jobs are being taken away. I think I just talked myself away from it. :/

Avatar image for mimisalome
mimisalome

6899

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

You know in a typical workplace area that involves automation and moving machines, industry usually enforce strict safety guidelines as part of safety regulations, like safety fences, sensors, EMO switch and the likes and there are considerable penalties if these functions are not enforced

And now that they are bringing industry grade automation in direct contact with the public, im expecting that they will soon have such regulations applicable for public transportation as sophisticated as self-driving individual cabs.

Avatar image for deactivated-5ebcd5ad9fb95
deactivated-5ebcd5ad9fb95

18675

Forum Posts

7

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

Dam what a terrible first public impression.

Avatar image for dernman
dernman

35919

Forum Posts

10092

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 9

@mimisalome: What I'd like to know is why the the operator that was in the car at the time didn't stop it... That's what he's there for. Situations like this.......Don't they have some quick safety switch or was it just so fast that it didn't matter?

Avatar image for deactivated-5e49375365792
deactivated-5e49375365792

12367

Forum Posts

10

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

Yeah I read the news.

Avatar image for deactivated-5b84aca03eae8
deactivated-5b84aca03eae8

6261

Forum Posts

2264

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 1

These autonomous vehicles still have a long way to go before being deemed safe and reliable, but they'll get there eventually. The way to improve and better something is to learn from those crucial mistakes.

Avatar image for godsavemenow
GodSaveMeNow

950

Forum Posts

0

Wiki Points

0

Followers

Reviews: 0

User Lists: 0

@dernman said:

Does this change your views on self driving cars?

No. This is hardly the first fatality in the development of new transportation technologies.

As unfortunate as it was and as heartbreaking as it must be for the loved ones of the victim, it will all just be chalked up as a statistic at the end of this pursuit.

Victory at the expense of the innocent is no victory at all.