Posted on 03/21/2018 12:48:17 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
When a driverless car kills someone, who’s to blame?
That’s no longer a hypothetical question. A self-driving car operated by Uber struck and killed a woman on a street in Tempe, Arizona, on Sunday night, likely marking a grim milestone for the nascent technology: the first pedestrian killed by such a car on public roads.
Police say the 49-year-old woman was walking a bike across the street, outside the crosswalk, at around 10 p.m. The Uber was traveling at 40 miles per hour in autonomous mode, with an operator in the driver’s seat, when she was hit. Police have not yet determined who was at fault. (The car apparently didn’t slow down, and the operator didn’t appear impaired.) Nonetheless, Uber immediately suspended its self-driving tests in Arizona and nationwide, as many in the tech industry reacted with alarm.
There’s an ongoing debate about legal liability when it comes to collisions in which an autonomous vehicle harms someone else through no fault of that person. Would the blame lie with the self-driving car’s owner, manufacturer, a combination of the two, or someone else? In their quest to become the Mecca of self-driving cars, Arizona regulators have largely left those questions unanswered, The New York Times reported last year:
(Excerpt) Read more at newrepublic.com ...
Trump, of course.
Who has the DEEPEST pockets?
Maybe the woman was at fault. We have huge number of people killed by cars with drivers. Yet nobody has suggested banning cars, not even blaming Trump and the NRA.
Whoever controls the car.
Don’t try to use reason to figure this out.
This won’t be tried in front of a jury of 12 computers.
It will be tried in front of a jury of 12 humans.
And humans are just bags of emotions walking around.
But, it will never be tried.
The car manufacturer will settle long before this comes to trial.
Very difficult to doctor multiple records from multiple sensors, all in a very shot period of time.
All the pixels have to match up.
Records can be doctored, but it is a time intensive job.
You can make a movie with someone who wasn’t in it, but it take quite an effort.
The records were supplied to the police very quickly. The police said Uber was cooperating.
They also said the vehicle was going 38 mph in a 35 mph zone.
If you were going to alter records, it seems unlikely you would leave that one in place.
It’s always human error.
Determining which human might not be so easy.
Was it the programmer,was it someone in R&D, was it the company who rushed it to market?
I am guessing it will be the driver’s fault.
By driving this car you agree to assume any and all liability.
If you do not agree ..you do not drive.
The self-driving feature is mooted by there being a ‘minder’ driver on board at the time. The woman stepped out into traffic faster than the car or the minder could react. This is not the fault of the car. That being said, I’m not crazy about the notion of self-driving cars.
It is that way here in Texas. That said, there are certainly pedestrians and bike riders that seem to goad cars into hitting them. I hope cameras on the car show the accident. If she jumped in front of the car with the "I'm a pedestrian and I'm always right" mentality, then she foolishly brought about her own death. If a driver in the car could have seen her and stopped the car, then the driverless car and its owner are at fault. Maybe the car is only programmed to "see" a pedestrian who is in a proper crosswalk (which would also make the car at fault).
I have discussed this question with some of my colleagues in the past. Playing the blame game may end up at the feet of the software developer if it can be proven that a bug in their code caused the death. I sure would not want that responsibility, or even the knowledge that a mistake I made caused a death.
He crashed, and in the civil case, the jury found the aircraft manufacturer liable.
Bush’s fault. /old fashioned
“...I think the programming has a long way to go in this area...”
A very long way. What choices can the car make? Brake hard, steer away.... What if that means hitting something else -
another car - head on? Hitting a bridge? Parked car? What if the choice is hitting an old man or a young child? Big dog or child? There is no guidance on how to program, no safe haven - and thus prime for endless litigation.
My husband’s GMC Denali truck has a lane departure feature..
Whose fault? The arrogant technologists and the non-technology companies on track to making themselves serfs of the arrogant technologists.
“Police say the 49-year-old woman was walking a bike across the street, outside the crosswalk, at around 10 p.m.”
Was it her bike?
rwood
In CA, the pedestrian always has the right away.
“A Self-Driving Uber Killed a Woman. Whose Fault Is It?”
Her fault.
Shouldn’t have been out at night.
Shoulsn’t have been on bicycle at night.
Should have seen car coming.
Should have known there are democrats driving cars.
Should have known there are driverless cars driven by democrat ideology.
I can envision a time when women will run everything, and the only reason men will exist is in case anything goes wrong.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.