Self-Driving Uber Car Kills Pedestrian in Arizona, Accident Could Have Implications for Autonomous Vehicle Testing

[4jasontv]

That is crazy, but for some reason, cities through out the world are anti cars. Many of the politicians are anti cars. Well anti cars for us, they get driven in their chauferur driven cars with police escorts. We are expected to make do with public transport or a road system that is anti driver.

Anti car would be an understatement. We have cut parking space in half in the past 5 years. The city pays for bus fare, but if you have a receipt showing you took the bus because you felt you drank to much, they will cover overnight parking. This makes parking nearly impossible on weekends. Almost every road has bike lanes wide enough for small cars. They are so big it’s easy to confuse them for extra lanes. All the buses were fitted to hold bikes at the expense of capacity. They would rather run more buses than risk people avoiding using their bike because it might rain. It is insane here.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

There are roughly 300 million cars registered in the US and maybe 100 of the are driverless vehicles, so your conclusion that the rates of pedestrian deaths are the same for both is illogical and absurd. That’s why no one cares.

The median number of deaths per car annually for both is zero.

Obviously I'm not trying to equate the two but I will say that the sample size on the autonomous side is too small to draw conclusions from.

 

[Baymowe335]

Meanwhile (in the US only) 15 pedestrians will be killed today by negligent human drives. 15 more will die tomorrow, 15 died yesterday and 15 die everyday. Why does no one care about that?

It's not that no one cares, but there are other factors involved. With a technology, the "mistakes" can spread like cancer because it speaks to the software being too stupid to avoid it.

Unfortunately, this sort of thing needs to be essentially perfect.

Ever hear the one about a self driving car driving up on a shooting? A human would drive away...what would the autonomous car do? These are the questions that have to be answered.

 

[Gasu E.]

Artificial intelligence interacting with unpredictable human beings...what could go wrong. I read an article about how pedestrian deaths were on the rise all around the country, possibly because of the increase in wearable devices. Also noted was the factoid that pedestrian deaths were rising fastest in those states who have legalized pot. So I guess if you’re high on weed AND have your nose in your OLED screen while listening to Elton John with noise canceling headphones you maybe shouldn’t walk out into the middle of the street when a self driving car is bearing down on you.

If any of those conditions were true, NONE of them would have compromised the car's pedestrian detection features. Unless you're implying the car either has it in for Elton John fans, or got a contact high. Otherwise, what exactly does this post have to do with this autonomous vehicle accident?

 

[Glmnet1]

I don’t want these driverless cars driving around my town. They’re not safe. Take note law makers.

Cars are not safe. For now, no one knows if driverless cars are more or less safe so you might want to wait a little before deciding that you don't want them in your town.

 

[thisisnotmyname]

Yep. Like I said, it's a system geared toward the convenience of drivers, to the exclusion of all other road users. So yeah, you're right, and I stand corrected! It really is "open season" on pedestrians in Arizona if there doesn't happen to be a crosswalk where they need to go. Sad for anybody too poor or infirm to drive, I guess, but they get what they deserve if they walk outside those lines!

interesting fact, the term jaywalking comes from the slur "jay" used to refer to unskilled people.

 

[Pbrutto]

Sadly, this is probably still safer than us driving. Horrible for the person hit and their family. Also, as much as I want to say they should have been in a crosswalk....I never cross the street like that.....

 

[Gasu E.]

When I read the headline, I thought to myself that I know exactly where it was before looking it up. I live 1.5 miles from the incident so I know it well. People will run across the street frequently without looking and I've had to stop in the middle of the road for people to cross. I see the Uber SUV's at all hours of the day/night and have never thought they posed any kind of problem. They drive the speed limit when everyone else speeds, use turn signals and are model drivers. I'm not saying they're perfect, but I'm better the woman wasn't looking where she was going.

The problem is, the car cannot detect whether the pedestrian is looking or not. Whether the pedestrian is paying attention should not factor into determining whether the safety algorithms are working well enough.

 

[AngerDanger]

Again, some lack candor, which you apparently defined the definition of it. In a sense, any Snark, joking or mockery of a situation as this, doesn’t need to exhibit that type of humor when involves someone else’s life over an accident. Since you’re condoning that response is appropriate in response to another members post, your contribution actually adds to the problem, that’s your own prerogative.

Nobody is mocking the situation; somebody is mocking one callous post. I think you found their comment distasteful and are now spinning it as objectively harmful, claiming that I'm part of a problem. If you feel the need to continue, that is your prerogative, but I'm bowing out. Have a nice day, Relentless Power.

 

[Gasu E.]

Cars are not safe. For now, no one knows if driverless cars are more or less safe so you might want to wait a little before deciding that you don't want them in your town.

I'd rather take my chances with an autonomous vehicle, than with my 92 year old father, who still insists on driving (and is legally licensed to do so).

 

[Will.O.Bie]

Maybe she shouldn’t have been crossing outside of a crosswalk area... but also the car and driver should have seen her

Ever been to NYC? Just about everyone doesn't walk on a crosswalk. This will set the technology back due to the fact that a lot of people are not very well informed on autonomous vehicles. They will only see the victim's side of things, given that the pedestrian lost her life. This can't be good for the future of driverless vehicles.

 

[Brien]

I’ll never use a self-driving car. I like being in control and I enjoy driving.

“I’ll never use a horseless carriage. I like being in control and I enjoy riding.”

 

[macduke]

Of course it was Uber. Seriously, screw that company. I knew they would be the one to ruin this thing.

 

[AbSoluTc]

I'd rather take my chances with an autonomous vehicle, than with my 92 year old father, who still insists on driving (and is legally licensed to do so).

Jesus god. 92 and still driving? I understand independence and all that but no.

Anyone that thinks it's wrong to put an age cap on drivers, I urge you to go to a grocery store parking lot and watch how long it takes for an older person to get in and out of a car. Then how long it takes them to back out. Yes, the person that just took 15 minutes to get in a car and another 10 to back out IS DRIVING DOWN THE EXPRESSWAY!

The mental capacity to make quick decisions and be aware is just not there. I don't care what anyone thinks or says. It physically can't be there. A 92 year old will not hit the brake as quickly as someone half their age.

 

[Cesar Battistini]

And here we continue the charade that this technology is to make the world better, when in reality it’s a way to speed up shipping and have more ability to pit the working class against each other as millions across the globe will be unemployed as the technology deploys.

But hey, I’ll be able to get a burger ****-faced at 3am...so I welcome the increased strangle hold the oligarchs have over humanity.

Go hide under a rock!

 

[CrystalQuest76]

TheVerg reports that the incident occurred near N Mill Ave and E Curry Rd in Tempe. It is not right next to the ASU campus but it is not that far away. The victim was also identified by name. This area does not have many crosswalks.
A Safety Driver was in the car.

 

[cicalinarrot]

If the car or the driver are to blame, I'm very sorry for the lady and my thoughts and prayers go to her family.
If it was her fault, I'm much more worried about how her (possibly) stupid behavior will effect the whole world. If this is the case, a revolution that will save millions of lives may be postponed because she was in a rush.

 

[Black Tiger]

Meanwhile (in the US only) 15 pedestrians will be killed today by negligent human drives. 15 more will die tomorrow, 15 died yesterday and 15 die everyday. Why does no one care about that?

Those drivers can be taken to court and sent to jail. Who do we send to jail when an autonomous car kills someone?

 

[0924487]

He died for science. not gonna pull back

 

[teamgibbs]

That’s an unfortunate situation and even though there is not enough details regarding the accident currently, The accident will be reconstructed and will find out exactly what happened. Uber and the police can at least provide an explanation of what occurred exactly to the victims family.

Precisely, and until then it's just a sensational headline.

Autonomous vehicles are the future. Tthere will unfortunately be growing pains but it will get there and in little time we will see vehicle related fatalities plummet.

 

[carpleror]

Crosswalks were invented for the convenience of car drivers. A person being outside one doesn't make them "fair game" to be killed.

Ummm that is not true. Have you ever heard of jaywalking? Yeah that’s a crime in NYC, if a cop wants to he can give you a ticket for that. Crosswalks were created for pedestrian safety, and choosing to operate outside of them is to do so at your own risk.

 

[CrystalQuest76]

Fascinating investigative news story titled "Jaywalking while Black." Apparently there is a lot of racial profiling and negative policing going on when people are ticketed for jaywalking. The people often ticketed are the poorest of the population (they don't have cars).

 

[carpleror]

Very sad. I have to wonder why the human behind the wheel failed to take over in this situation though. That's the point of testing with a human behind the wheel isn't it?

My gut tells me this is 100% the pedestrians fault. She probably darted out into the middle of the street without looking and got hit before the autonomous system or the driver had time to react. No different than if someone ran out from between cars and the driver didn’t have time to stop. These vehicles can only improve reaction time over a human driver. If the physics don’t allow for the car to stop in time, it doesn’t matter how quickly you react, the car is still going to hit the obstacle.

 

[nsayer]

There are roughly 300 million cars registered in the US and maybe 100 of the are driverless vehicles, so your conclusion that the rates of pedestrian deaths are the same for both is illogical and absurd. That’s why no one cares.

I call shenanigans.

If you scale the accident rate for autonomous versus human chauffeured miles driven I posit you'll *still* find a statistically significant difference in favor of the autonomous vehicles.
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I’ll never use a self-driving car. I like being in control and I enjoy driving.

Yes you will, unless a drunk (human) driver kills you first.

 

[kironin]

I’ll never use a self-driving car. I like being in control and I enjoy driving.

So you intend to either kill yourself before you get old and can't get a driver's license anymore or become homebound.