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Self-Driving Uber Car Kills Arizona Pedestrian
New York Times ^ | MARCH 19, 2018 | DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI

Posted on 03/19/2018 11:44:55 AM PDT by grundle

SAN FRANCISCO — A woman in Tempe, Ariz., has died after being hit by a self-driving car operated by Uber, in what appears to be the first known death of a pedestrian struck by an autonomous vehicle on a public road.

The Uber vehicle was in autonomous mode with a human safety driver at the wheel when it struck the woman, who was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk, the Tempe police said in a statement. The episode happened on Sunday around 10 p.m. The woman was not publicly identified.

Uber said it had suspended testing of its self-driving cars in Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS: alreadyposted; arizona; skynet; tempe; uber
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To: catnipman
Quite quickly, driverless car makers will be sued out of existence

They need to be.

When this technology CUTS a thousand fold the fatality rate per mile versus human drivers, then they have a leg to stand on.

Right now, expect that the driver less car is DEAD, and God help anybody who has money invested.

61 posted on 03/19/2018 1:54:01 PM PDT by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA-SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS-CLOSE ALL MOSQUES)
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To: Sans-Culotte

“DOES NOT COMPUTE”

“DOES NOT COMPUTE”

I walk my bike across intersections all the time, look at the HUMAN drivers faces, and react accordingly.

Poor girl never had a chance.


62 posted on 03/19/2018 1:56:24 PM PDT by Rome2000 (SMASH THE CPUSA-SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS-CLOSE ALL MOSQUES)
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To: IYAS9YAS

right-of-way or no right-of-way, the claim will be of a faulty and/or excessively dangerous design. just because someone doesn’t have the right-of-way doesn’t automatically mean they’re supposed to get a death sentence.

an ordinary driver exercising ordinary diligence will do their best to brake and or avoid killing ANY pedestrian under any circumstance. How many times did you undertake to kill a pedestrian because they violated the right-of-way? Or did you do your best to avoid killing a fellow human being who wasn’t exercising good judgement?


63 posted on 03/19/2018 1:57:47 PM PDT by catnipman ( Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: grundle

It is advertised as “autonomous.” Therefore, all the responsibility goes to the software that powered the car, and to the team of software designers.

That won’t happen, of course. The driverless car’s “driver” will be held responsible.

Better get this straight, folks. Many companies are gearing up to unleash robots and/or “artificial intelligence.” These devices can and will injure people, kill people, or destroy property. Better figure out who is responsible, folks! And DO NOT hold the entire public responsible through some crazy scheme.


64 posted on 03/19/2018 1:59:18 PM PDT by I want the USA back (There are two sexes: male (pronoun HE), and female (pronoun SHE). Denial of this is insanity.)
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To: catnipman

You’re very fond of assuming the car did not brake. There’s nothing to indicate that in the story, you just want to make sure we all think a human driver would have avoided the accident, while studiously ignoring the fact that there WAS a human in the car, and they didn’t. Some accidents can’t be avoided, at least from one side. And when it’s ped vs car failing to comprehend the right of way is very often a death sentence, that’s why peds need to remember they don’t have any armor.


65 posted on 03/19/2018 2:05:09 PM PDT by discostu (It's been so long, welcome back my friend, to the show, that never ends.)
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To: Ozark Tom

“What about the mangled bicycle on the sidewalk ahead of the vehicle?”

It’s gonna sue, too.


66 posted on 03/19/2018 2:07:53 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest)
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To: grundle

When the bridge fell and killed people, it is the bridges fault, not the people behind it. As with guns, not the people misusing them, but a call for banning guns. This Uber car had an attendant behind the wheel monitoring the driverless car, what was he doing, daydreaming or fondling himself? Ban all driverless cars now, because someone got killed by one. Or someone, a human(s), need to be held accountable for killing a person.


67 posted on 03/19/2018 2:08:55 PM PDT by roadcat
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To: grundle

So, what exactly is the purpose of the “safety driver”? Is he just there to take the keys away from the car if it runs over someone?


68 posted on 03/19/2018 2:12:37 PM PDT by Sopater (Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? - Matthew 20:15a)
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To: discostu

You’re very fond of assuming that the car DID brake. There’s nothing to indicate that in the story.


69 posted on 03/19/2018 2:13:21 PM PDT by catnipman ( Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: gathersnomoss
"Can you imagine one of these in the hands of Holder, Clinton & Barrack Inc.?"


70 posted on 03/19/2018 2:13:53 PM PDT by PLMerite ("They say that we were Cold Warriors. Yes, and a bloody good show, too." - Robert Conquest)
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To: catnipman

I’m assuming nothing. Maybe it braked, maybe it didn’t. Maybe it had an opportunity to brake, maybe it didn’t. We don’t know, and frankly it doesn’t matter. What we know in this instance is that whatever went down the human backup didn’t spot it in time either. Which happens. We live in an imperfect world. You want to make assumptions and play the luddite, but out here in reality all the current data says a human wouldn’t have done any better (because they didn’t).


71 posted on 03/19/2018 2:17:11 PM PDT by discostu (It's been so long, welcome back my friend, to the show, that never ends.)
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To: grundle

Only robots allowed to walk.


72 posted on 03/19/2018 2:18:56 PM PDT by petitfour (APPEAL TO HEAVEN)
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To: Reno89519
yet the Uber and its driver still did not stop until after they ran her over.

It takes from 145' to 195', nearly half, to two thirds, of a football field, to stop from 45 MPH. The story I read said the vehicle was northbound, on Mill Road, near Curry Road in Tempe, and the speed limit along there is 45 MPH.

Could you get it done if someone rolled or stepped out in front of you? Could you do it at night?

We know nothing except there was an accident and death, and that there is a damaged bike, and an Uber vehicle with damage to the right front corner.

73 posted on 03/19/2018 2:20:24 PM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: Reno89519

Does it matter? If she was on her bike, or with her bike on the road, she had the right-of-way.

...

Arizona: Vehicles must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians within a crosswalk that are in the same half of the roadway as the vehicle or when a pedestrian is approaching closely enough from the opposite side of the roadway to constitute a danger. Pedestrians may not suddenly leave the curb and enter a crosswalk into the path of a moving vehicle that is so close the vehicle is unable to yield. Pedestrians must yield the right-of-way to vehicles when crossing outside of a marked crosswalk or an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection. Where traffic control devices are in operation, pedestrians may only cross between two adjacent intersections in a marked crosswalk.

http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/pedestrian-crossing-50-state-summary.aspx


74 posted on 03/19/2018 2:22:19 PM PDT by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: catnipman
an ordinary driver exercising ordinary diligence will do their best to brake and or avoid killing ANY pedestrian under any circumstance. How many times did you undertake to kill a pedestrian because they violated the right-of-way? Or did you do your best to avoid killing a fellow human being who wasn’t exercising good judgement?

We don't know that the software or driver didn't exercise good judgement or attempt to stop. We just know the car hit a bike at 10 PM (it's full dark at 10 PM), and the speed limit in that area is 45 MPH.

I'll almost guarantee there's video from the car of this (for the very reasons everyone expects - litigation primarily, and tweaking the software/hardware secondarily). We should probably wait until that is reviewed before deeming the vehicle/driver at fault.

75 posted on 03/19/2018 2:25:59 PM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: Afterguard
"Is this the first robot to kill a human?"

There have been industrial accidents before. I think this kind of roboticide is new though.

76 posted on 03/19/2018 2:32:35 PM PDT by armourenthusiast (Trumperific)
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To: Moonman62

And as she was on or maybe on a bicycle, what does the law say for this?


77 posted on 03/19/2018 2:32:38 PM PDT by Reno89519 (Americans Are Dreamers, Too! No to Amnesty, Yes to Catch-and-Deport, and Yes to E-Verify.)
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To: discostu
What we know in this instance is that whatever went down the human backup didn’t spot it in time either.

That's also an assumption. It takes 145' to 195' to stop from 45MPH (depending on reaction time, weight of vehicle, driving conditions). It was dark, which can be a delay in itself if whatever is out there isn't in the headlights (shouldn't matter to a vehicle with all kinds of sensors).

All we know is someone is dead, and the death was caused by a collision with an Uber vehicle that was in autonomous drive mode with a human as backup.

Don't take this as an endorsement of autonomous vehicles. I don't want them on the roads with me.

78 posted on 03/19/2018 2:34:18 PM PDT by IYAS9YAS (There are two kinds of people: Those who can extrapolate from incomplete data.)
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To: Reno89519

AZ law says crosswalks are for pedestrians, if you’re on your bike you’re a vehicle and need to follow vehicle rules to the best of your ability. Of course people ride their bikes through crosswalks all the time and nobody cares, unless there’s an accident.


79 posted on 03/19/2018 2:34:59 PM PDT by discostu (It's been so long, welcome back my friend, to the show, that never ends.)
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To: IYAS9YAS

No assumption. There’s a person in the car, if they spotted the situation and acted it was too late, we know this because the accident was not avoided.


80 posted on 03/19/2018 2:36:48 PM PDT by discostu (It's been so long, welcome back my friend, to the show, that never ends.)
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