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posted by takyon on Thursday March 22 2018, @12:34PM   Printer-friendly
from the carmagedon dept.

A few Soylentils wrote in to tell us about a fatal accident between a pedestrian and an autonomous Uber vehicle.

Update - Video Released of Fatal Uber - Pedestrian Accident

I debated just replying to the original story, but this seemed a pretty significant update to me:

The Uber vehicle was operating in autonomous mode when it crashed into 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg on Sunday evening. Herzberg was transported to a hospital, where she later died from her injuries, in what may be the first known pedestrian fatality in a self-driving crash.

The video footage does not conclusively show who is at fault. Tempe police initially reported that Herzberg appeared suddenly; however, the video footage seems to show her coming into view a number of seconds before the crash. It also showed the vehicle operator behind the wheel intermittently looking down while the car was driving itself.

The link shows video of the seconds just before the accident.

The pedestrian did not step out in front of the vehicle, she was essentially out in the middle of the road, and all her lateral movement was nearly irrelevant. She might as well have been a stationary object in the middle of the road. You can see the headlights bring her feet into view first, (meaning she was pretty much in the line before the headlights could see her, and then move up her body; she's already in the middle of the road in front of him when she comes into view.

If I were driving that car, I think I'd have had time to hit brakes (but not stop in time). I also think that that if the camera view is an accurate representation of what was really visible, then the car was overdriving its headlights. Although given my experience with cameras, I wouldn't be surprised if actual visibility was better than what the video shows.

This, in my opinion, is pretty damning.

Police Chief: Uber Self-Driving Car "Likely" Not At Fault In Fatal Crash

The chief of the Tempe Police has told the San Francisco Chronicle that Uber is likely not responsible for the Sunday evening crash that killed 49-year-old pedestrian Elaine Herzberg. “I suspect preliminarily it appears that the Uber would likely not be at fault in this accident," said chief Sylvia Moir.

Herzberg was "pushing a bicycle laden with plastic shopping bags," according to the Chronicle's Carolyn Said, when she "abruptly walked from a center median into a lane of traffic."

After viewing video captured by the Uber vehicle, Moir concluded that “it’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode (autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway." Moir added that "it is dangerous to cross roadways in the evening hour when well-illuminated, managed crosswalks are available."

Self-Driving Car Testing Likely to Continue Unobstructed

Self-Driving Cars Keep Rolling Despite Uber Crash

The death of a woman who was struck by a self-driving Uber in Arizona on Sunday has auto-safety advocates demanding that U.S. regulators and lawmakers slow down the rush to bring autonomous vehicles to the nation's roadways. Don't count on it.

Efforts to streamline regulations to accommodate the emerging technology have been under way since the Obama administration with strong bipartisan support. And the Trump administration's aversion to restrictions and regulations makes it even more unlikely that the accident in Tempe, Arizona, in which an autonomous Uber sport utility vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian, will result in significant new barriers, according to former U.S. officials and some safety advocates.

"Honestly, the last thing under this administration that car companies and self-driving vehicle developers have to worry about is heavy regulation," said David Friedman, a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration administrator under President Barack Obama who's now director of cars and product policy for Consumers Union.

Who is to blame when driverless cars have an accident?

[Partial] or full autonomy raises the question of who is to blame in the case of an accident involving a self-driving car? In conventional (human-driven) cars, the answer is simple: the driver is responsible because they are in control. When it comes to autonomous vehicles, it isn't so clear cut. We propose a blockchain-based framework that uses sensor data to ascertain liability in accidents involving self-driving cars.


Original Submission #1Original Submission #2Original Submission #3Original Submission #4

 
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  • (Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:39PM (3 children)

    by tangomargarine (667) on Thursday March 22 2018, @06:39PM (#656773)

    You obviously haven't driven in the right kind of commuter traffic. There are times where it's impossible to keep everybody off your ass.

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  • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:09PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @07:09PM (#656793)

    You obviously haven't driven in the right kind of commuter traffic. There are times where it's impossible to keep everybody off your ass.

    This is not the case. If you are worried about a vehicle behind you following too closely then the correct action is to slow down (gradually, so the tailgater has time to notice and act accordingly).

    This results in one of two things happening. Either the tailgater stops following you altogether (problem solved), or speed is reduced sufficiently such that the tailgater, despite being close, is actually maintaining a safe following distance (problem solved).

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @10:58PM (1 child)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 22 2018, @10:58PM (#656906)

      "or speed is reduced sufficiently such that the tailgater, despite being close, is actually maintaining a safe following distance (problem solved)."

      And then some other driver will tuck his car into the space between the rear of your car and the front of the tailgater's car.

      You obviously don't have much driving experience in big city driving environments, or you'd know the scenario I described above is a common event.

      In other words, your "solution" often doesn't work for very long in the real world of high-density traffic and bad drivers. You'd better stay home, boy.

      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 23 2018, @01:15AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday March 23 2018, @01:15AM (#656960)

        You're one of those jackasses that tailgates me every time I have to go through St Louis, aren't you?

        It's sad that you've gone to such elaborate lengths to justify being a dangerous asshole on the road. Go ahead and rear-end me any time. I'm betting you already have enough points that an at-fault collision would get your license pulled, and that would truly be a public service.

        Or, you know, you could keep screaming and pumping your fists like a maniac instead. If you get upset enough you just might run right off the road. Either way, win-win.