Uber self driving car kills pedestrian

[ClassicBiker]

On March 19th a woman walking her bicycle in Tempe Arizona was struck and killed by an autonomous automobile. She was walking her bicycle across the road when she was struck and killed. The car was traveling at 40 mph. Evidently the car recognized her as an individual on a bicycle and its logic decided that there wasn't a cause to slow or stop. The video footage from cameras show that the safety driver was looking down when the accident occurred. So it appears the logic is a bit flawed, there's a surprise. I first read this in the latest issue of American Motorcyclist yesterday. The American Motorcyclist Association has been tracking this stuff to make sure we don't get forgotten as this technology develops. Looking up articles on this accident I learned that the state of Arizona is a regulation free zone. The state wanted to attract jobs and money associated with this developing technology so companies can go there and run the cars on the road all they want where ever they want. As of 2015 the only stipulation is they must have a safety driver to override the system in a dangerous situation, earlier this month that stipulation was dropped. So beware there are driverless cars moving around Arizona. Elaine Herzberg, 49 at time of death, has the dubious honor of being the first person killed by an autonomous car.
Steven

 

[vibrac]

Add a line of code to get over that and the next time the car will kill the driver
It's easy to forget the car is only as good as the programmer what I have seen of those anoracks testing will continue till 2035

 

[BigEd]

Technology moves us forward. (No pun intended in this case.) If we didn't embrace technology maybe we would still be driving around in around in a wooden cart pulled by a horse or for the speed merchants, horses.
Levity aside, accidents will always occur and the tragic death here of Elaine Herzog unfortunately will not be the last. In cases like this where "nobody" was driving who gets the blame? Who gets charged with manslaughter, goes to jail, loses their licence and has trouble getting insured if/when they get their licence back?

 

[vibrac]

More important who writes the line of code:
"If bus queue left and Clif edge right and wall ahead then turn ******"

 

[Martyn Goodwin]

More important who writes the line of code:
"If bus queue left and Clif edge right and wall ahead then turn ******"

Back ???????????

 

[ClassicBiker]

Add a line of code to get over that and the next time the car will kill the driver
It's easy to forget the car is only as good as the programmer what I have seen of those anoracks testing will continue till 2035

There in lies the rub. Having worked in the area between the software provider and the company implementing its use. Dealing with developers and the end user, doing user acceptance testing, developers write code and invariably in correcting one problem will break something else, inadvertently, somewhere else. Developers also live in a perfect world and are human. Many times I have been given software to test where a specific problem has been identified, the developers have been tasked to correct it, and failed miserably. They have been told what the operating environment and how the customer will use the product. Only to totally ignore the instructions and say "well in my environment it works and mine is set up differently, they need to copy mine" knowing full well that isn't going to happen. Not all situations and circumstances can be broken down into lines of code. The decision to hit the bus queue or the baby that has wandered into the street or drive off the cliff and kill myself and my passengers, will get different results from different people. What do you program into the autonomous vehicle?
I do not understand the desire to relinquish control of the vehicle to "code". I am comfortable with relinquishing control of a vehicle to another person because I can identify with a person. I trust that up to a point that the individual controlling has values similar to my own. Not so a machine.
Steven

 

[ClassicBiker]

Technology moves us forward. (No pun intended in this case.) If we didn't embrace technology maybe we would still be driving around in around in a wooden cart pulled by a horse or for the speed merchants, horses.
Levity aside, accidents will always occur and the tragic death here of Elaine Herzog unfortunately will not be the last. In cases like this where "nobody" was driving who gets the blame? Who gets charged with manslaughter, goes to jail, loses their licence and has trouble getting insured if/when they get their licence back?

I would say that even if it is an autonomous vehicle and you own it, you own its actions and its problems and mistakes. If it is say the family vehicle and junior or juniorette says dad can I borrow the "AV" to go to the mall and it blows through a red and runs down a family, the ultimate responsibility falls on who was inside at the time or who holds the vehicles title. If junior borrowed it either he gets the prize or dad takes one for the team. After all if it has faulty programming it is the owner's responsibility to identify that there is a problem and get it corrected or discontinue use. Unless it can be proven that the manufacturer did a Volkswagen and knowingly sold a product with faulty/deceptive programming. Another reason why I don't understand the desire to relinquish control of a vehicle to "code". I'll take the beating for my mistakes, but I'm not about to take it for faulty "code" I didn't write.
Steven

 

[vibrac]

Classic Biker has the problem in a nutshell however the solution will be that no-one will own these mobile computers no one will want to (even now all cars start to look the same). When AV's get going you will just hire one and it will come to your door and take you where you want to go and move on to the next passenger. how wonderful. wont H&S love that, and all the people that hate to drive.
No doubt about it guys we have had the best years.

 

[ClassicBiker]

Pretty soon vehicle operation will be limited to closed courses for the well off. It has already started to happen.
https://m1concourse.com/
Steven

 

[Pete Appleton]

The unknown is always worrying but we shouldn't be too quick to condemn technology. I would like a lot more information... How many miles have the autonomous vehicles managed to travel without killing anyone? How many miles does the average motorist manage to travel between fatal encounters? Are you more or less likely to be killed by a self driving car? I know that statistics are no comfort when it happens to you but there are plenty of drivers that I would like to see replaced by a computer.
I remember when no-one wanted ABS on their cars. I wouldn't be without it now.