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Human Driver Could Have Avoided Fatal Uber Crash, Experts Say (bloomberg.com)
An anonymous reader shares a report: The pedestrian killed Sunday by a self-driving Uber SUV had crossed at least one open lane of road before being hit, according to a video of the crash that raises new questions about autonomous-vehicle technology. Forensic crash analysts who reviewed the video said a human driver could have responded more quickly to the situation, potentially saving the life of the victim, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. Other experts said Uber's self-driving sensors should have detected the pedestrian as she walked a bicycle across the open road at 10 p.m., despite the dark conditions. Herzberg's death is the first major test of a nascent autonomous vehicle industry that has presented the technology as safer than humans who often get distracted while driving. For human driving in the U.S., there's roughly one death every 86 million miles, while autonomous vehicles have driven no more than 15 to 20 million miles in the country so far, according to Morgan Stanley analysts. "As an ever greater number of autonomous vehicles drive ever an ever greater number of miles, investors must contemplate a legal and ethical landscape that may be difficult to predict," the analysts wrote in a research note following the Sunday collision. "The stock market is likely too aggressive on the pace of adoption."
Uber is a pretty scummy company, having people operate unlicensed taxis for below minimum wage.
Basically the Wal*Mart of taxis.
Note, the place is apparently a pedestrian crossing zone just without zebra stripes. You see the marking if you check Google Streetview.
Uber do use LIDAR. Looks like there was a hardware or software issue. The car was also breaking the speed limit at the time.
Speed limits are set according to fixed rules that have been set by carefully examining statistics and the theoretical capabilities of cars and drivers. A self-driving car would be obeying the speed limit (well, this is Uber, maybe not). A human driver would assume that driving at the posted limit was safe for all but the most severe conditions (dense fog, or heavy snow, icy road, and night).
A cyclist crossing the road on foot, wearing dark clothing, should be able to see approaching headlights from hundreds of yards away. This seems like a case of extreme bad judgement on her part.
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I wonder if they removed LIDAR after Waymo lawsuit?