Piece in NYT Uber’s Self-Driving Cars Were Struggling Before Arizona Crash

The cars were having trouble driving through construction zones and next to tall vehicles, like big rigs. And Uber’s human drivers had to intervene far more frequently than the drivers of competing autonomous car projects.

Waymo, formerly the self-driving car project of Google, said that in tests on roads in California last year, its cars went an average of nearly 5,600 miles before the driver had to take control from the computer to steer out of trouble. As of March, Uber was struggling to meet its target of 13 miles per “intervention” in Arizona, according to 100 pages of company documents obtained by The New York Times and two people familiar with the company’s operations in the Phoenix area but not permitted to speak publicly about it.

Think Uber need to go back to driving on test tracks before trying anymore live driving on public roads.

Think Uber need to go back to driving on test tracks before trying anymore live driving on public roads.

And Volvo with their XC90 model!
Just one year ago, a self-driving Volvo XC90 collided in Arizona. The car belonged to the taxi company Ubers test cars in Tempe, Arizona. Uber interrupted the test runs for some time, but when the police found that the counterparty caused the accident, the trial runs continued.

Yes, and also from big cars like SUV's that sit so high on the road, their beams hit my line of sight more directly.

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The mind is a weird and mysterious place

Anyone experienced this issue?

My new car has LED headlamps, and when I'm parking up in an enclosed space, I can see how sharp the upper beam edge is - how narrow the angle between 'dip' and full intensity.

When I meet drivers of other similarly-equipped cars on the road, there's no problem - in fact, I prefer the way that the light comes from a wider area, not the pin-prick of (particularly) a halogen bulb. But if the road is undulating, so the lights sometimes aim slightly above the level they're adjusted for, there can be a problem.

Anyone experienced this issue?

Yep.
Not so much that the lights are brighter, just that there seem to be more poorly aligned lights than in the past.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Anyone experienced this issue?

Yep.
Not so much that the lights are brighter, just that there seem to be more poorly aligned lights than in the past.

Also seems to be an issue that the sources are more pinpoint. After all the size of a LED junction is microscopic compared to a tungsten filament. So there is no penumbra.

Anyone experienced this issue?

IMO poorly designed lenses, with poor cut off.

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Anyone experienced this issue?

IMO poorly designed lenses, with poor cut off.

The original lenses was probably perfect, but then the 'car designer(s)' insist on a clear plastic cover that follows the shape of the car.

A few weeks ago I had one of the Euroblob pool cars from work and was concerned about the number of times I was flashed by on-comings cars. So I did a quick "garage door"check which showed both headlamps were pointing up and to the right rather than down tp the left. On a car with less than 1000 miles onthe clock this can only be down to manufacturing issues and lack of PDI checks. The brush off from the hire company resulted in a customer complaint.

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

Anyone experienced this issue?

Yes, I have had a couple of near misses with unlit breakdowns on M25 late at night, mainly the upgraded "smart motorway" section between J23 andJ25 , the hilly curvy stretch with no lights,no hard shoulder and a crash barrier preventing vehicles getting clear of the main carriageway. The main problem is being on the road between the time of a breakdown and the time of the activation of the "smart motorway" features being activated. (warning signs and traffic officer attendance).

I find these lights are hard on the eyes especially on unlit sections of road, my eyes have just been retested for licence renewal reasons and fully comply with HGV regs.

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Kevin

Major pucker factor

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True, but a skilful one :-)

I wonder how he got in that position in the first case.

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Another crash fatality involving a Telsa
Statement from Tesla
Today (March 31), Tesla said the Model X car involved in a fatal crash in California last week had its Autopilot system turned on moments before the car’s collision with a roadside barrier. (Previously, the company had said it didn’t know whether the semiautonomous driving feature was switched on at the time of the crash because it hadn’t recovered the computer logs yet.) “The driver had received several visual and one audible hands-on warning earlier in the drive and the driver’s hands were not detected on the wheel for six seconds prior to the collision,” the company said in a statement.

Apparently this latest accident is getting people worked up over the safety of Autonomous vehicles.
Here is a news flash - Tesla cars aren't autonomous vehicles. They are supposed to be driven by a person. The autopilot is there to assist them, not take over from them. The driver is the one responsible for driving the car.

I thought i'd have a look at the owners manual for one of the cars with the Autopilot/Driver assist.

Warning: Traffic-Aware Cruise Control is
designed for your driving comfort and
convenience and is not a collision warning
or avoidance system. It is your
responsibility to stay alert, drive safely,
and be in control of the vehicle at all
times. Never depend on Traffic-Aware
Cruise Control to adequately slow down
Model X. Always watch the road in front
of you and be prepared to take corrective
action at all times. Failure to do so can
result in serious injury or death.

Warning: Although Traffic-Aware Cruise
Control is capable of detecting
pedestrians and cyclists, never depend on
Traffic-Aware Cruise Control to
adequately slow Model X down for them.
Always watch the road in front of you and
be prepared to take corrective action at
all times. Failure to do so can result in
serious injury or death.

Warning: Do not use Traffic-Aware Cruise
Control on city streets or on roads where
traffic conditions are constantly changing.

Warning: Do not use Traffic-Aware Cruise
Control on winding roads with sharp
curves, on icy or slippery road surfaces,
or when weather conditions (such as
heavy rain, snow, fog, etc.) make it
inappropriate to drive at a consistent
speed. Traffic-Aware Cruise Control does
not adapt driving speed based on road
and driving conditions.

...

Warning: It is the driver's responsibility to
determine and maintain a safe following
distance at all times. Do not rely on
Traffic-Aware Cruise Control to maintain
an accurate or appropriate following
distance.

Warning: Never depend on Traffic-Aware
Cruise Control to adequately slow down
Model X to avoid a collision. Always
watch the road in front of you and stay
prepared to take immediate corrective
action.

The whole section that covers Autopilot which consists of Traffic-Aware Cruise Control, Autosteer, Auto Lane Change, Autopark, Lane Assist, Collision Avoidance Assist, Speed Assist is chock a block full of ! each one stating the limitations of each of the systems & repeatedly pointing out that it is the driver that is responsible for driving the car. All these functions are there to help with that, but it is the driver that is still in control of & responsible for driving the car.

Maybe if the various assistants were all called just that- assistants, and the group of them not called Autopilot, it might help, a bit.
But the fact is people in general just aren't all that smart. The safer we make things, the more stupidly they behave.
And cars & safety features are a great example of that behavior.

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Grant
Darwin NT

Make the button really big so all of the disclaimers can be printed directly on it.

...or make the "on" button really small and difficult to reach, while the off button is massive....

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Bob Smith
Member of Seti PIPPS (Pluto is a Planet Protest Society)
Somewhere in the (un)known Universe?

What is the point of autopilot systems if the driver has to be totally aware of what is happening and ready to take over whenever the system or the driver sees a problem that the autonomous system isn't responding to.

What is the point of autopilot systems if the driver has to be totally aware of what is happening and ready to take over whenever the system or the driver sees a problem that the autonomous system isn't responding to.

It's like ABS, traction & stability control. It's there to help the driver, not replace them.
It might come as a surprise, but even the Autopilot on aircraft is no different. It's there to help the pilots, and they need to be ready to take over if there is something with which it can't deal.

Neither system is autonomous. The systems are there to help drive the car/fly the plane. It is still up to the driver/pilot to be in control.

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Grant
Darwin NT