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posted by martyb on Saturday June 23 2018, @03:41PM   Printer-friendly
from the unfortunate dept.

According to this article on MSN:

Police in Tempe, Arizona said evidence showed the "safety" driver behind the wheel of a self-driving Uber was distracted and streaming a television show on her phone right up until about the time of a fatal accident in March, deeming the crash that rocked the nascent industry "entirely avoidable."

A 318-page report from the Tempe Police Department, released late on Thursday in response to a public records request, said the driver, Rafaela Vasquez, repeatedly looked down and not at the road, glancing up just a half second before the car hit 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, who was crossing the street at night.

According to the report, Vasquez could face charges of vehicle manslaughter. Police said that, based on testing, the crash was "deemed entirely avoidable" if Vasquez had been paying attention.

Police obtained records from Hulu, an online service for streaming television shows and movies, which showed Vasquez's account was playing the television talent show "The Voice" the night of the crash for about 42 minutes, ending at 9:59 p.m., which "coincides with the approximate time of the collision," the report says.

It is not clear if Vasquez will be charged, and police submitted their findings to county prosecutors, who will make the determination.


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @09:25PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday June 23 2018, @09:25PM (#697350)

    This was something the aircraft industry figured out long ago. You are correct, as other car companies have been, in pointing out that the human brain is not a machine and can't be expected to work like one. I don't remember what the numbers are, but it is on the order of seconds to come up to situational awareness.

    http://raes-hfg.com/crm/reports/sa-defns.pdf [raes-hfg.com]

    See also human factors: Human Factors Analysis and Classification System

    Adverse Mental State: Refers to factors that include those mental conditions that affect performance (e.g., stress, mental fatigue, motivation).
            Adverse Physiological State: Refers to factors that include those medical or physiological conditions that affect performance (e.g. medical illness, physical fatigue, hypoxia).
            Physical/Mental Limitation: Refers to when an operator lacks the physical or mental capabilities to cope with a situation, and this affects performance (e.g. visual limitations, insufficient reaction time).

    Starting Score:    0  points
    Moderation   +1  
       Interesting=1, Total=1
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    Total Score:   1