Re: Self-driving Ubers -- On the other hand, it's great that Uber's engineers are rushing to fix the issue.
I'm not in a position to judge whether or not Uber's self-driving technology is at the point where it can be reasonably road tested, however, I think that testing in real-world traffic is necessarily a part of the development process, and must happen at some point. Rational minds can disagree on this, but I personally do think it is unreasonable to expect self-driving cars to hit the roads in "perfect" form. Real-world testing will be essential to identify issues that are difficult or impossible to observe in controlled settings. There will be bugs and oversights. Is there a risk inherent in that? Absolutely. But there's also risk in letting human student drivers practice on the road. The potential benefits to society from self-driving technology are too huge to ignore, and I'd hate to see one company handling self-driving tech poorly color our expectations for the essential development track of autonomous vehicles. We should also take care not to let perfect be the enemy of good. Implemented correctly, self-driving cars will be infinitely better at identifying and interacting with other road users -- especially cyclists and pedestrians. Even if the cars currently perform some sketchy right-hook maneuvers (that humans routinely do as well), I'm more inclined to trust a computer that's appraising its surroundings hundreds of times per second over a human who is checking for new text messages hundreds of times per second. -Rob > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/19/uber- > self-driving-cars-bike-lanes-safety-san-francisco > > The rush to market for self-driving vehicles seems poised to lead to a rush > to the morgue for other road users, in particular for any cyclist who > stumble into the path of an Uber making a right turn across a bicycle lane. > > Here's a story about a $38 million award won by a Seattle bicyclist injured > when a parking valet took a common but illegal shortcut across the roadway > where he was cycling. > > http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/ > bicyclist-severely-injured-by-valet-in-crash-awarded-38m/ > > The point being that injuring bicyclists for the sake of expediency can > lead to hefty civil penalties. Presume this logic will be applied to > outfits like Uber. > > https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/19/uber- > self-driving-cars-bike-lanes-safety-san-francisco > The rush to market for self-driving vehicles seems poised to lead to a > rush to the morgue for other road users, in particular for any cyclist who > stumble into the path of an Uber making a right turn across a bicycle lane. > Here's a story about a $38 million award won by a Seattle bicyclist > injured when a parking valet took a common but illegal shortcut across the > roadway where he was cycling. > > http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/transportation/ > bicyclist-severely-injured-by-valet-in-crash-awarded-38m/ > The point being that injuring bicyclists for the sake of expediency can > lead to hefty civil penalties. Presume this logic will be applied to > outfits like Uber. > > -- > S. Rose >
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