Uber Autonomous Car Kills Pedestrian.

There's some interesting information in this article concerning this subject.

Uber's Self Driving Cars Are Struggling

Per the article, "As of March, Uber was struggling to meet its target of 13 miles per “intervention” in Arizona..." That is, having the human behind the wheel take over (if they're not too busy texting to do so). If this is the case, if human intervention is required every half hour or less at city speeds, then what the #@%! is it even doing on the road being tested? It should still be on a closed course where it can't hurt anybody!

And I don't give a rip what the company says about it technically not being their fault, as the pedestrian was jaywalking. That pedestrian is still just as dead. Are they going to make the same excuse if a toddler or somebody's dog runs out in front of it, too? Happens to me all the time, and I don't need the "intervention" of a co-driver to keep from killing them.

I shudder to think of how that system would work in Philadelphia, with pedestrians constantly jaywalking in front of you, cars constantly cutting you off in traffic, etc. If it's going to kill a pedestrian in such an easy environment as in this case, it wouldn't survive an hour in Philly.

I hope they get slapped with a huge lawsuit, and the "driver" gets cited for distracted driving.

A couple of days ago, Jan suggested that me and Brett had our collective heads in the sand for not jumping on the autonomous truck/car bandwagon...

Per Bill's point about urban operation, here are a couple of thoughts...

Run the Uber Car through a construction zone cattle chute with a reduced speed limit 45mph from 65mph, complete with tight jersey barriers and uneven pavement. The same thing must be done with a CMV. And not just once, but numerous times under varying traffic and weather conditions. Do this 100 times and there might be 100 performance variations. Does anyone believe that Uber or Tesla has done that even once?

That is what defines a single case of stress testing...a single one.

Second; this technology cannot identify the difference between a pedestrian, a deer, an overpass or a large sign. No surprise the Uber car not only struck the pedestrian but plowed right through her. Had the occupant remained asleep,...the car might have continued.

So yes Jan...this technology is definitely being tested on public highways before it's been proven safe and reliable. Isn't' it obvious?