Uber suspends self-driving vehicle testing following crash in Arizona

[Shawn Knight]

The safety of autonomous vehicle technology is under the microscope once again following a crash on Friday in Arizona involving a self-driving Uber. The vehicle involved in the accident, a Volvo XC90 luxury SUV, came to a stop on its side as shown in a photo shared on Twitter.

The Chicago Tribune said in a report that the Uber vehicle was struck when another vehicle failed to yield. A Tempe police spokesperson said there was a person behind the wheel of the Uber vehicle although it’s unclear at this time if they were actively controlling it. No injuries were reported.

A spokesperson for Uber confirmed the incident with Bloomberg, adding that it has suspended testing of its autonomous vehicles in Arizona – and has paused similar operations in Pittsburgh – until an investigation into the matter is complete.

The spokesperson added that there was no Uber passenger in the backseat at the time of the crash.

Again, the Uber vehicle was not responsible for the accident.

Uber’s fleet of self-driving Volvo XC90 SUVs hit the streets of San Francisco in early December. The autonomous rides were quickly forced off the roads, however, as the California Department of Motor Vehicles revoked their registrations. In February, Uber moved the fleet to Arizona where it has been operating for the past month without incident.

Crash image courtesy Fresco News via Twitter

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/68660-uber-suspends-self-driving-vehicle-testing-following-crash.html

 

[Scshadow]

Needs better title. "Uber suspends self-driving vehicle testing following non-fault crash in Arizona." See... its not that hard... I can think of even better titles too. "Self-Driving cars prove incapable of compensating for all the retarded cancerous human drivers, Uber rolls over on autonomous car testing."

 

[EClyde]

These self driving things will never work

 

[EEatGDL]

These self driving things will never work

Caught you reading just the title, huh?

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

These self driving things will never work

They will. It's inevitable. There will be hiccups, setbacks, and some people will get hurt, sadly even killed, but the future is fully autonomous, electric vehicles without any shadow of a doubt.

 

[rvnwlfdroid]

This is going to be the biggest battle for all things related to autonomous vehicle's. The human factor... Unless they can just flip a switch and turn it on for every vehicle out there. At that time the systems will know exactly how all other vehicles will react to a situation. Personally I feel all automotive companies need to take baby steps. Start with driving assist options, assisted breaking, lane change notification, proximity alerts (blind spot detection). Several if not most companies are offering bits and pieces of driving assist options. I do realize there are just as many human factors involved with driving assist options. This is where the companies have a little more control. Companies could become very creative when it comes to alerting the driver about what's going on.

 

[Puiu]

These self driving things will never work

it's something that already works. but you can't avoid accidents as long as there still are bad drivers or drunk drivers on the streets.

 

[Uncle Al]

Sounds like they are just being cautious .... re-checking everything to be sure their vehicle has done everything correctly. In industry we call that an effective quality program ......

 

[EClyde]

Self Driving Delusions

 

[EClyde]

it's something that already works. but you can't avoid accidents as long as there still are bad drivers or drunk drivers on the streets.

What if a driver had been in control? Drivers can think cars never will

 

[Khanonate]

What if a driver had been in control? Drivers can think cars never will[/QUOTE]

You've never heard of artificial intelligence? It's just a matter of time...Technology is evolving, wait for Skynet.

 

[gusticles41]

What if a driver had been in control? Drivers can think cars never will

Drivers make calculations based on their surroundings and the actions of other drivers. Autonomous cars do the same thing, way faster than a human brain can.

The piece missing is prediction. Expecting that driver in the other lane to not see you and force you off the road. Expecting someone to blow through a stop sign. Human drivers are wildly unpredictable and full of error, hence the reason this article exists.

 

[skribat]

These self driving things will never work

One of the biggest problems is that drivers don't want self driving cars

 

[StrikerRocket]

it's something that already works. but you can't avoid accidents as long as there still are bad drivers or drunk drivers on the streets.

What if a driver had been in control? Drivers can think cars never will

Sure, but if you think of it in another way, the fact that drivers can think can also be seen as a drawback sometimes... Self driving cars do not drive under the influence, are never tired, never doze while driving, never text or engage in a heated conversation or sex while driving, humans do, often... If a car can be programmed to follow driving regulations perfectly, then the average autonomous vehicle can be seen as a safer and more efficient driver than the vast majority of human drivers or retards we often see on the streets. While it is difficult for an autonomous car to predict unpredictable behaviour, and by that I mean *human behaviour*, it is equally difficult for human drivers, hence the accidents that happen all the time. In the end, if, and I say *if* autonomous cars can make enough progress, they will be better and safer than human drivers, by removing all the inherently human shortcomings I talked about above.

Just thinking...

 

[Darius Moon]

Quickly forced out of calif, and now suspends testing. Why if it is not the ai fault?

 

[Makson]

Meanwhile electric cars, driverless or otherwise use machinery burning fossil based fuels to extract the minerals from the ground, to manufacture every component even using robots, to sell and deliver the cars, to provide the fuel for the cars, to build and maintain the roads, and every human involved in all the processes live in dwellings using appliances operating with .... fossil-based fuel.
As usual, mankind's priorities with technology remain in limbo while continuing to 'place the carriage in front of the horse'.