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In review of fatal Arizona crash, U.S. agency says Uber software had flaws
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An Uber self-driving test vehicle that struck and killed an Arizona woman in 2018 had software flaws, the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday as it disclosed the company’s autonomous test vehicles were involved in 37 crashes over the prior 18 months.
NTSB may use the findings from the first fatal self-driving car accident to make recommendations that could impact how the entire industry addresses self-driving software issues or to regulators about how to oversee the industry.
The board will meet Nov. 19 to determine the probable cause of the March 2018 accident in Tempe, Arizona that killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she was walking a bicycle across a street at night.
In a report released ahead of the meeting, the NTSB said the Uber Technologies Inc vehicle had failed to properly identify her as a pedestrian crossing a street.
That accident prompted significant safety concerns about the nascent self-driving car industry, which is working to get vehicles into commercial use.
In the aftermath of the crash, Uber suspended all testing and did not resume until December in Pennsylvania with revised software and significant new restrictions and safeguards,
A spokeswoman for Uber's self-driving car effort, Sarah Abboud, said the company regretted the crash that killed Herzberg and noted it has “adopted critical program improvements to further prioritize safety. We deeply value the thoroughness of the NTSB's investigation into the crash and look forward to reviewing their recommendations.”
The NTSB reported at least two prior crashes in which Uber test vehicles may not have identified roadway hazards. The NTSB said between September 2016 and March 2018, there were 37 crashes of Uber vehicles in autonomous mode, including 33 that involved another vehicle striking test vehicles.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday November 07 2019, @12:56AM (3 children)
Is it not in beta? Test vehicles aren't production vehicles.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 07 2019, @01:10AM
Who knows if it's still in beta, the companies that are testing on public roads aren't about to admit to that, are they?
(Score: 4, Interesting) by c0lo on Thursday November 07 2019, @06:03AM
Huh!?! There are heaps of pre-production stages a lot of them even before beta.
One of it is "code complete" - a.k.a the software equivalent of "pure nitroglycerin on a sunny day just waiting to blow you to kingdom come at your first attempt to do anything with it."
Yes, you will need to use it to start making it better but you'd be a fool to expect anything from it than to blow up when you expect the least.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Friday November 08 2019, @09:08PM
Yeah, that and colo's comment makes me seriously wonder how many test track hours these vehicles got (under their current software iterations) before being let out on the streets... There are rules for aircraft flight testing as allowance for air testing, but rule one for all of them I believe is, "get the hell away from crowded population areas fast" until the plane is actually certified.
Speaking of that of which we weren't, why hasn't there been testing rules established by DOT and/or NTSB. Yeah, another bureaucracy, but as FAA has shown it can be used to good purpose (and can be circumvented too a la 737 MAX)
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