'Self-driving' in spotlight again as China sees first Tesla autopilot crash

[FrodosPet]

'Self-driving' in spotlight again as China sees first Tesla autopilot crash

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-china-crash-idUSKCN10L0P4

BY JAKE SPRING | Wed Aug 10, 2016 11:16am EDT

Tesla (TSLA.O) said on Wednesday that one of its cars had crashed in Beijing while in 'autopilot' mode, with the driver contending sales staff sold the function as 'self-driving', overplaying its actual capabilities.

Tesla said it had reviewed data to confirm the car was in autopilot mode, a system that takes control of steering and braking in certain conditions.

~ snip ~

A 33-year-old programer at a tech firm, Luo Zhen was driving to work and engaged the autopilot function as he often does on Beijing's highways, he told Reuters in his first interview with international media.

Luo, who filmed the incident with a dashboard camera, said his car hit a vehicle parked half off the road. The accident sheered off the parked vehicle's side mirror and scraped both cars, but caused no injuries.

~ snip ~

[Glassunion]

1. Still safer than human drivers.

[FrodosPet]

3. Still safer than SOME drivers

Until the cameras get dirty, or it runs into a situation it cannot handle. Or they get hacked, or sun blinded, or the pavement is poorly marked, or someone is riding a bicycle.

(And I am saying this as a student and supporter of self-driving technology)

The cold, hard truth about autonomous vehicles and weather

http://fortune.com/2015/02/02/autonomous-driving-bad-weather/

by Doron Levin | FEBRUARY 2, 2015, 5:10 PM EDT

A detailed study by Boston Consulting Group has concluded that partially autonomous vehicles will appear on roads by 2017 and fully self-driving cars will arrive a decade from now.

First, however, cars must be secure from cyber attack; liability issues also must be resolved, social resistance overcome and high-precision maps must be created, BCG said in its January 8 report.

~ snip ~

Sam Abuelsamid, a senior analyst for Navigant Research, a marketing intelligence firm based in Boulder, Colorado, has been driving and testing a 2015 Kia Sedona equipped with advanced autonomous driving systems. Starting on Saturday night, as heavy snow blanketed southeast Michigan, he noted how the weather was neutralizing some of the Sedona’s advanced technology features.

~ snip ~

“We’re a lot farther from general use self-driving cars than those in Silicon Valley would like you to believe. The radar sensor in the front and the rear camera are completely covered. While the snow was falling, I had to turn off the parking assist because the falling snow was triggering the ultrasonic sensors causing the system to beep continuously while there was nothing around the vehicle.”

~ snip ~

[Glassunion]

5. Human drivers are responsible for more accidents per mile driven than autonomous and

Tesla's driver assist.

Using just the Tesla driver assist greatly reduces your odds of being in an accident. Over 130 million miles driven, and you have about 5 or 6 accidents, with one fatality?

If you break it out by mile driven under autopilot, vs human drivers. For every 130 million miles driven with autopilot in their passenger vehicles, you have 6 collisions. With a human at the wheel of a passenger vehicle (to compare apples to apples) you have about 550 collisions for the same number of miles driven. I'll take 1 to 91 odds any day of the week.

Also, most accidents do no occur in poor weather. In fact most fatal accidents (94%) are caused by humans. Weather only accounts for a small percentage of total accidents: 6.06 million accidents, 5.21 million there was no weather event. Fatalities where weather was attributed as the cause comes in at about 2% (Latest NHTSA report (2014): https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812261)

[LanternWaste]

2. I'm looking forward to the ease and convenience automation will allow drivers

I'm certainly looking forward to the ease and convenience automation will allow drivers in the coming future. A young family member of mine who currently cannot drive (a stroke victim) will have the same sense of freedom and mobility as she did in the past without relying on anyone to come pick her up.

[Buns_of_Fire]

4. A programmer. A 33-year-old PROGRAMMER!

I hope his work is triple-checked six ways from Sunday.

Proving once again that the greatest malfunction in automotive technology will always be the loose nut behind the wheel.