Video filmed from a Uber unmanned vehicle that killed a man
The Tempe City Police Department (Arizona) published the first video of a fatal accident that happened late on Sunday, March 18, 2018, with the participation of the Uber unmanned vehicle. On a 22-second video, there are two fragments: shooting from the front camera on the road and shooting the driver-man, who sits behind the wheel and controls the work of the autopilot.
As a result of the accident, a 49-year-old local resident Elaine Herzberg died, who crossed the roadway with a bicycle in her hands at night outside the regulated transition without retroreflective elements on clothes and a bicycle. This is the first death of a pedestrian in history as a result of a collision with an unmanned vehicle.
After the incident, Uber temporarily suspended testing of unmanned vehicles on public roads.
Based on preliminary information, the police did not see Uber’s fault in the clash, although the published video still raises some questions. On it it is clear that the insuring driver-man did not continuously follow the road as it should be. A few seconds before the collision, she looked down - perhaps on the screen of the smartphone, which was in her hand. The driver on the video - 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez (Rafaela Vasquez).
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The preliminary results of the investigation showed that the unmanned vehicle did not slow down before a collision. The video seems to confirm this version: neither the autopilot nor the man had time to notice the pedestrian, slow down or undertake an avoidance maneuver.
Police chief Tempe Sylvia Moir (Sylvia Moir) the next day after the accident gave a press conference and shared some information about the investigation. She said that the car at the time of the collision was moving at a speed of 61 km / h with a set speed limit of 56 km / h (35 mph). Although Google Streetview photos found a picture near the crash site, which clearly shows a 45 mph limit.
“The driver said it was like a flash, the person just appeared out of nowhere in front of the car,” Sylvia Moir said then, conveying the words of the driver. “Her first collision alert was the sound of a collision.”
In principle, the published video confirms that in conditions of such poor visibility, the appearance in the light of headlights of a cyclist really became unexpected. It’s not a fact that the driver would have had time to react if he really watched the road really closely. The only problem is that the driver did not look there.
Now the police are investigating. On Monday, police said that the recordings from the cameras on the Uber car would not be published until it was completed. As you can see, the authorities decided to still share information.
“We often publish videotaping investigations that our department leads,” said Detective Lily Duran in an e-mail to The Verge . - The information we have provided is all the information that we have at the moment. Uber knows about the existence of the video and got acquainted with it. ”
Uber has not yet resumed autopilot testing on the roads. The company expresses its sympathy to the relatives of the deceased and “helps the local, state and federal authorities in carrying out the investigation in all possible ways”.
According to the results of the investigation, it is unlikely that Uber autopilot is the culprit for the accident, but the incident may again raise public debate about the danger of testing the autopilot beta on public roads. Although people-drivers kill hundreds of pedestrians on the roads every day, but it has become so commonplace that no one pays attention to the 1.25 million deaths a year . Quite another thing - the first in the history of the death of a pedestrian from an unmanned vehicle.
Perhaps the police and the company Uber later publish additional information that will help to understand the actions of the autopilot. For example, it would be interesting to see data from laser lidars.
As a result of the accident, a 49-year-old local resident Elaine Herzberg died, who crossed the roadway with a bicycle in her hands at night outside the regulated transition without retroreflective elements on clothes and a bicycle. This is the first death of a pedestrian in history as a result of a collision with an unmanned vehicle.
After the incident, Uber temporarily suspended testing of unmanned vehicles on public roads.
Based on preliminary information, the police did not see Uber’s fault in the clash, although the published video still raises some questions. On it it is clear that the insuring driver-man did not continuously follow the road as it should be. A few seconds before the collision, she looked down - perhaps on the screen of the smartphone, which was in her hand. The driver on the video - 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez (Rafaela Vasquez).
')
The preliminary results of the investigation showed that the unmanned vehicle did not slow down before a collision. The video seems to confirm this version: neither the autopilot nor the man had time to notice the pedestrian, slow down or undertake an avoidance maneuver.
Police chief Tempe Sylvia Moir (Sylvia Moir) the next day after the accident gave a press conference and shared some information about the investigation. She said that the car at the time of the collision was moving at a speed of 61 km / h with a set speed limit of 56 km / h (35 mph). Although Google Streetview photos found a picture near the crash site, which clearly shows a 45 mph limit.
“The driver said it was like a flash, the person just appeared out of nowhere in front of the car,” Sylvia Moir said then, conveying the words of the driver. “Her first collision alert was the sound of a collision.”
In principle, the published video confirms that in conditions of such poor visibility, the appearance in the light of headlights of a cyclist really became unexpected. It’s not a fact that the driver would have had time to react if he really watched the road really closely. The only problem is that the driver did not look there.
Now the police are investigating. On Monday, police said that the recordings from the cameras on the Uber car would not be published until it was completed. As you can see, the authorities decided to still share information.
“We often publish videotaping investigations that our department leads,” said Detective Lily Duran in an e-mail to The Verge . - The information we have provided is all the information that we have at the moment. Uber knows about the existence of the video and got acquainted with it. ”
Uber has not yet resumed autopilot testing on the roads. The company expresses its sympathy to the relatives of the deceased and “helps the local, state and federal authorities in carrying out the investigation in all possible ways”.
According to the results of the investigation, it is unlikely that Uber autopilot is the culprit for the accident, but the incident may again raise public debate about the danger of testing the autopilot beta on public roads. Although people-drivers kill hundreds of pedestrians on the roads every day, but it has become so commonplace that no one pays attention to the 1.25 million deaths a year . Quite another thing - the first in the history of the death of a pedestrian from an unmanned vehicle.
Perhaps the police and the company Uber later publish additional information that will help to understand the actions of the autopilot. For example, it would be interesting to see data from laser lidars.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/411001/
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