The self-driving uber had a dash cam, and analysis of the video is
providing some clarity on what happened:
The chief of the Tempe Police has told the San Francisco Chronicle that Uber is likely not responsible for the Sunday evening crash that killed 49-year-old pedestrian Elaine Herzberg.
“I suspect preliminarily it appears that the Uber would likely not be at fault in this accident," said Chief Sylvia Moir.
Herzberg was "pushing a bicycle laden with plastic shopping bags," according to the Chronicle's Carolyn Said, when she "abruptly walked from a center median into a lane of traffic."
After viewing video captured by the Uber vehicle, Moir concluded that “it’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode (autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway."
I
still don't trust these things, but it looks like it may have been the pedestrian's fault.
there was a designated driver in the driver's seat. So it certainly sounds like there was nothing that could have prevented the accident.
ReplyDeleteBruce,
ReplyDeletethis is the first I've heard of a driver on board.
However, there is NO WAY someone just monitoring a machine running on automatic can react as fast as someone actually controlling it in real time. Average humans just don't work like that. They cannot maintain focus like that.
"... based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway."
ReplyDeleteDon't these things avoid collisions with radar? "Shadows" should have had no effect.