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Uber allegedly ignored safety warnings before self-driving fatality
Just days after Uber announced its plans to resume testing of its self-driving taxis, new information reveals that a whistleblower had made the company aware of the technology's safety failures before the incident in Arizona last March, which saw a pedestrian struck and killed by one of Uber's vehicles, and which led to the suspension of all testing activity.
According to The Information, Robbie Miller, a manager in the testing-operations group, sent a cautionary email to a number of Uber's executive and lawyers, warning that the vehicles were "routinely in accidents resulting in damage. This is usually the result of poor behavior of the operator or the AV technology."
It appears the email was prompted by an incident in Pittsburgh, where just a few days before Miller sent the message an Uber prototype swerved completely off the road and onto the sidewalk, where it continued to drive. According to Miller's email, the episode was "essentially ignored" for days, until Miller raised it with other managers. He also noted that towards the end of 2017, it took two weeks for engineers to investigate the logs of a separate Arizona incident, in which an Uber vehicle almost collided with another car.
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday December 13 2018, @03:00AM (7 children)
Blinking lights, for bicyclists at least, are illegal in many European countries. http://bikeshed.johnhoogstrate.nl/bicycle/light/blinking/ [johnhoogstrate.nl]
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by lentilla on Thursday December 13 2018, @03:43AM (6 children)
Now, that is an interesting article. Personally, I love my blinking bicycle lights. For starters, they use less power, which means I don't have to be constantly charging them or changing batteries. By flashing; they stand out from the rest of the visual noise.
Like the article mentions; a blinking light makes it harder for other road users to judge distance; and as far as I am concerned... this is a brilliant thing. Instead of turning in front of you (or into you) a motorist will pause and wait for you to pass first - this avoids the need to emergency brake, or worse - in the cyclist T-boning the car or vice-versa. People see a bicycle and think "slow" but fail to comprehend just how fast they often travel.
So despite that article's findings, I think I will keep using my flashing lights. Red on the rear, and white on the front. I even run the front light during some daytime excursions because it really does cut down on the frequency of unpleasant situations. (And blinking lights aren't illegal where I live.)
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday December 13 2018, @04:24AM (5 children)
Let me give you a different example. In the US drivers are taught to blink their tail lights to warn cars behind or perhaps to complain about tailgating. At least I was by an actual police officer who was off duty teacher of motorcycle riding. Before that I thought that locals brake too much while they in fact did not brake at all. The result is exactly the opposite from intended as I learned to completely ignore brake lights. I simply continue going the same way and speed I was before and make my decisions based on actual car speed which is way more difficult. I actually caught myself that I can't tell sometimes if a car in front of me has lights working. I literally don't see them.
What does it do to safety...
Back to blinking lights, motorists will learn that bicyclists are always way too far to be dangerous and will learn to ignore the lights be they blinking or not. This is a perfect example of regulations being necessary even though they are making your immediate life more dangerous. Unfortunately, one has to be sacrificed sometimes for the common good.
Having said that I do what you do. In fact a friend of mine got a light so powerful that it would be illegal on a car and I am considering it as well.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
(Score: 2) by martyb on Thursday December 13 2018, @12:27PM (1 child)
=)
Wit is intellect, dancing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday December 13 2018, @05:47PM
Pro tip -- many windshield squirt nozzles are little ball-in-socket assemblies. With a paper clip wire stuck in the hole, you can re-aim them. If you are constantly bothered by tailgaters, aim the squirt on your passenger side to squirt right over your roof...
(Score: 2) by Oakenshield on Thursday December 13 2018, @04:54PM
Interesting. Blinking lights seem to be more common around here for rear bicycle lights and I personally feel they are much better for me to register as a bicycle on the road at night. Steady red (bicycle) lights never appear very bright and seem to blend in with the large number of red lights that show up everywhere at night. When I see a blinking red light I immediately slow down and start watching for a bicycle. I never ever trust any bicyclist at night not to do something stupid and I make sure I am very aware of where they are at all times. I have run up on dim steady red lights at night and not realized there was a bike there until the last second. In fact, the clue more often in those cases is the reflectors on the bike pedals moving that catch my eye first.
(Score: 2) by bob_super on Thursday December 13 2018, @05:22PM (1 child)
The US needs to learn what works and mandate orange (heck, yellow, since we have LEDs) turn/warning lights.
The ambiguity of red for tail lights, and brake lights, and turn signals (even when they all work, and are used) has caused me enough aggravation, that I'm pretty sure it's cost quite a few lives.
(Score: 2) by legont on Thursday December 13 2018, @05:42PM
The whole light color system needs improvement simply because 10% of men have issues seeing red/green. They are not color blind, mind you, but have different color perception while the system is built for the most common vision case. I am sure adjusting brightness for example will make it more visible for most, including minority, perhaps at the expense of being less pleasant for the current majority. Hollywood does this successfully with vivid colors. And while at it, Hollywood also plays with sound making background unnaturally quieter when conversation is going on, which helps partially deaf people. They did their homework.
Anyway, these little details are not that little and they also make professional presentations well better than amateurish stuff on internet.
"Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.