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A self-driving Uber SUV struck and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. It was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, with a vehicle operator behind the wheel. Uber has suspended testing of its self-driving cars.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/19/technology/uber-autonomous-car-fatal-crash/index.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/uber-driverless-fatality.html
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/self-driving-uber-kills-arizona-171055918.html
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/19/594950197/uber-suspends-self-driving-tests-after-pedestrian-is-killed-in-arizona
https://www.wsj.com/articles/uber-suspends-driverless-car-program-after-pedestrian-is-struck-and-killed-1521480386
https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/19/17139518/uber-self-driving-car-fatal-crash-tempe-arizona
https://techcrunch.com/2018/03/19/uber-self-driving-test-car-involved-in-accident-resulting-in-pedestrian-death/
I couldn't find any good analysis of the liability situation here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday March 20 2018, @05:12AM (4 children)
The only thing that makes any sense is for the owner of the autonomous vehicle to be liable for any injuries caused by the use of their vehicle.
Vehicle owners today carry liability insurance to cover exactly this sort of accident. They will continue to do so with autonomous vehicles.
If the problem turns out to be the fault of the vehicle manufacturer, then owners (or more realistically, their insurance providers) can attempt to recover costs from the manufacturer through the usual means.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Tuesday March 20 2018, @04:20PM (3 children)
> If the problem turns out to be the fault of the vehicle manufacturer
Hungry lawyers will sue manufacturers for every bump, scratch, and crash.
While cameras will help dismiss most lawsuits, that's a whole lot of money spent right there.
Then there will be the crashes actually caused by bugs or weird circumstances, and those will cost a whole lot of cash.
I honestly don't know how you can have autonomous cars in a heavily litigious society like the US. The "shut up this was made by a government manufacturer" Chinese stand a much better chance.
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Tuesday March 20 2018, @07:03PM (2 children)
A Chinese autonomous car will also have it easier with the decision whether to prefer killing the passenger or the pedestrian. It will just access their social scores and decide to kill the one with the lower score.
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 2) by vux984 on Tuesday March 20 2018, @11:18PM (1 child)
" It will just access their social scores and decide to kill the one with the lower score."
Even if it has to swerve out of the lane and onto the sidewalk to make the kill!
That's what you get for wearing green mittens that your neighbors reported were an eye sore... and also not the party color!
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Wednesday March 21 2018, @07:39PM
But not a real green dress, that's cruel!