First Pedestrian Fatality by a Self-Driving Vehicle to Test Who’s Liable
An Arizona woman was struck and killed on a city street in Tempe by an Uber autonomous vehicle built by Volvo with a “safety driver” on board. Uber, however, made its own engineering and software changes on the test car. Local police, the U.S. Department of Transportation and both companies are investigating the accident.
It’s the second autonomous vehicle fatality. In 2016, a Tesla test driver was killed when the vehicle, in self-driving mode, struck a semi on a Florida highway.
“According to the Tempe police department, the vehicle, a Volvo XC90, was operating in ‘autonomous mode’ with a human ‘safety driver’ behind the wheel at the time of the accident. Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle in the street outside of a crosswalk when the vehicle hit her.
“Uber issued a statement that it has suspended testing of its autonomous vehicles in Tempe, San Francisco, Toronto and Pittsburgh… The Tempe accident could establish the first batch of case law for autonomous vehicles should the victim’s family press a case of liability. It will be a challenge for the courts, say lawyers.
Read the article at Forbes.
How Will the Cars of the Future ‘Talk’ to the World Around Them?
Pedestrians will need to receive and interpret messages and intentions from autonomous vehicles, such as when to walk and where to go. What will that look and sound like?
Uber has filed a patent application that proposes wrapping its self-driving cars in flashing signs to effectively communicate messages to pedestrians and others around it; Google and Drive.ai are working on something similar.
“As operators, we have a high certainty about what the car is doing and what it plans to do,” Sean Chin, a product designer at Uber’s Advanced Technology Group says. “What we need to do is enable pedestrians to interpret this behavior on their own.”
Read the article at The Verge.
Did You Know That Hydrogen Fuel Cell Cars Emit Pure, Drinkable Water?
There are plenty of naysayers about fuel-cell technology, but fuel cells are here and their number will grow as part of a wide variety of automobile power solutions of the future.
The advantages of hydrogen fuel cells over internal combustion engines and battery-electric motors as vehicular propulsion include emissions, range and charging time.
"Hydrogen is like money," said one expert, "it is all around us, but it doesn't necessarily belong to you."
Read the article at The Telegraph.
Uber’s Steven Choi to Keynote at NAFA IFA
International Fleet Academy: Mobility
NAFA announces a terrific addition to the packed International Fleet Academy (IFA) agenda. Steven Choi, Senior Technical Product Manager, Uber ATG, will provide the keynote presentation for the pre-conference event. The IFA takes place on April 23, one day before the opening of NAFA's Institute & Expo in Anaheim, Calif.
Choi's presentation, How “Machine Learning” Will Lead the Future of Fleet Autonomy and Mobility, will astound attendees who are coming to grips with the vast advances taking place in fleet and mobility management. As the era of “machine learning autonomy” rapidly approaches, the role of fleet management will be definitively impacted.
Arizona Pedestrian Killed by Uber Self-Driving Car
The first known death of a pedestrian struck by an autonomous vehicle on public roads has occurred late Sunday or early Monday, in Tempe, Arizona.
The woman, who was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk, was struck by the Uber vehicle while it was in autonomous mode with a human safety driver at the wheel.
An Uber spokeswoman said the company was “fully cooperating” with the local authorities. The company said it had suspended testing of its self-driving cars in Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.
Read the article at The New York Times.
