Recap: Uber Self Driving Fatality, Meat Expert & More

 

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David
David (@guest_572216)
March 20, 2018 12:31

This is going to be a great opportunity for people to draw poor conclusions. Driverless cars can not operate outside the world of physics. If a person unsafely crosses a street, they are going to get hit by a car no matter what. Is there any reason to think that having a driver (which the car did have) would have made a difference? If anything, it probably would have been going considerably more over the speed limit.

I’m sure driverless cars are already overall safer.

Brandon
Brandon (@guest_572163)
March 20, 2018 09:44

I wonder whom is on the hook for a driverless car and what essentially is a accidental homicide when a backup driver was also involved. Uber? The car manufacturer tech? The backup human driver? Very sad to hear either way but I do see potential in the tech when implemented safely

MoreSun
MoreSun (@guest_572170)
March 20, 2018 10:10

Not quite, the pedestrian is also potentially at fault here. Without more info we won’t know. So far it looks like the person did not use a crosswalk and if they just stepped out into the roadway without checking for traffic the pedestrian could be at fault. I’m not saying they will, just that this is a possibility.

Bob Unferth
Bob Unferth (@guest_572204)
March 20, 2018 12:01

“walking with her bicycle on the street” per the quoted news story.

Electroman
Electroman (@guest_572207)
March 20, 2018 12:07

Yes, in Arizona this could be the case. There are about nineteen “pedestrian’s rights states” where motor vehicles must always yield to pedestrians, no matter where they are. Arizona is not such a state.

MoreSun
MoreSun (@guest_572218)
March 20, 2018 12:33

You intrigued me… For anyone else intrigued check your state’s rules here (idk on the accuracy): http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/pedestrian-crossing-50-state-summary.aspx

MoreSun
MoreSun (@guest_572213)
March 20, 2018 12:28

Exactly. Threw me when I read that because other articles referenced her crossing the street. NYT is technically correct either way but the inference here is that she was not crossing the street just walking along side of it and that turns this into a whole different story imho- we just won’t know until authorities release their info. They should have camera footage of the tragic event so they should be able to tell us what actually happened and obviously fault will be determined from there.

CM
CM (@guest_572211)
March 20, 2018 12:20

This accident happened on N Mill Ave & Curry Rd. I lived in Tempe for a few months. These Uber cars circle around Tempe all the time, and I was almost ran over by it on S Mill Ave & Uni at least once. It was really just a matter of time until these 10-year-olds would hit someone, IMHO.

MoreSun
MoreSun (@guest_572214)
March 20, 2018 12:29
  CM

Yikes! That sounds miserable!

sloebrake
sloebrake (@guest_572250)
March 20, 2018 13:32

This seems like one of test cases that everyone is waiting for.

I’ve heard it mentioned that it will take the better part of a generation before enough case law is generated to allow real car companies to sell to the public.

In the meantime it will be tech companies and VC funds paying the fines, suits, lawyers and politicians. Only losers are the humans..