Uber Could Resume Testing of Its Self-Driving Vehicles this Summer (bizjournals.com)

Uber could resume its testing of self-driving vehicles this summer after a long pause on the program following a fatal crash in March. From a report: The possible restart of Uber's self-driving testing comes after the company conducted an internal safety review that led to 16 recommended improvements, according to a source familiar with the matter. Those changes would all be implemented before Uber returns its vehicles to the road. The recommendations "include developing emergency braking features to help minimize collisions if the main self-driving system fails," as first reported in The Information.

Comments

When Uber comes to town

[Ol Olsoc]

Remember when people were strutting around expounding how safe these self driving vehicles were?

Guber driverless vehicles should be required to have a flashing light in order to let pedestrians know that as in all things, Guber doesn't follow rules, so you've been warned citizens.

Re:When Uber comes to town

[dgatwood]

I'll repeat - Remember when people were saying how safe these self driving cars were? After all, the software is not fallible as a human.

Nope. I remember folks saying that about Waymo/Google, but not Uber. Uber has always been a company that takes shortcuts and ignores rules/laws. Anybody expecting safe self-driving tech from them should have realized their mistake long before the first accident.

Self-driving tech will eventually be much safer than humans, because it will be able to learn from mistakes on a scale that humans can't hope to achieve. But none of that precludes a company from taking shortcuts and, as a result, creating a dangerous solution.

Re:When Uber comes to town

[stephanruby]

More lies spouted off by the Uber PR machine.

Uber also suspended its testing in San Francisco and Pittsburgh following the crash,

Lie #1: Uber was permanently banned from testing in San Francisco in December several months before the crash. This is the reason why. See the video for yourself. At the time, Uber placed the entire blame on the driver saying that he was the only one driving the car and that the system was disengaged, but internal documents later obtained by the New York Times show the direct opposite of that claim. That's lie #2.

And please note, at that time Travis Kalanick was no longer in charge, so the lying is not something they can blame on him anymore. Also note that San Francisco has nothing against self-driving cars themselves, it's currently allowing two self-driving car companies to test their cars 24/7 all over its city. And the State of California itself has nothing against self-driving cars/trucks, it is currently allowing a number of different self-driving cars and self-driving 18-wheelers to drive within its State and even on public freeways at normal speeds 24/7.

it let its California permit for testing self-driving vehicles lapse that month.

Lie #3: While it's correct that Uber preemptively suspended all its testing on public roads after the crash, the real truth is that California, Arizona, and one other State informed it that Uber would no longer be allowed to test on their public roads as soon as they learned of the deadly accident themselves. So letting their California permit lapse is complete hogwash too.

And while the NTSB could give its ok, after all it's a Federal government organization under the influence of President Trump. It's very unlikely that States would allow Uber self-driving cars on their public roads ever again (unless some serious campaign contributions/bribes exchanged hands). So for that reason, I would recommend everyone to stay vigilant and be proactive about contacting your State representatives to let them know that you don't think Uber can be trusted.

Self-driving cars and trucks are coming. That is for certain. In the US alone, there are 50+ companies working on the problem. It's just that Uber should not be one of those companies. It still lies too much. Uber is too desperate for an IPO right now. It's only interested in self-driving cars as an excuse for raising billions of dollars. That's why they've been cutting so many corners. That, and the fact that their company is still rotten to the core despite Travis no longer being CEO.

Internal Review

[Luthair]

Seems good. /rubberstamp

Re:Internal Review

[slipped_bit]

Agreed.

And hopefully one of those 16 is also having the obstacle detection system turned on, which it wasn't during the fatal crash.

Re:As well they should

[fluffernutter]

Humans drive 3.22 billion miles a year and get into around 19 million accidents. That's a little under 170K miles successful between each accident. Let's ignore the fact that humans achieve this rate through snow storms, whether there is a clearly marked road sometimes with damaged signage, I would propose 170K miles should be the goal for an unmanned automated vehicle to reach before they are called 'as safe as humans'.