. | . |
Google takes some blame in self-driving car bang-up By Glenn CHAPMAN San Francisco (AFP) Feb 29, 2016
Google on Monday said that its self-driving car bore some of the blame in a recent fender-bender after making the kind of assumption a human might have made. A Lexus car converted into an autonomous vehicle by the Internet company had a low-speed collision with a transit bus on February 14 in what marked the first time that Google laid some of the responsibility for a crash on the software brains. "This is a classic example of the negotiation that's a normal part of driving -- we're all trying to predict each other's movements," Google said in a February monthly report about the performance of its self-driving cars. "In this case, we clearly bear some responsibility, because if our car hadn't moved there wouldn't have been a collision." A report filed with the California Department of Motor Vehicles contained details of the incident. It said the Lexus was in Mountain View, where Google and its parent company Alphabet are based, with a test driver capable of taking control in position when the autonomous vehicle pulled toward a right-hand curb in anticipation of making a right turn. The vehicle stopped after detecting sandbags near a storm drain in its path, then waited for a break in traffic to get around the obstruction, the report indicated. After several vehicles passed, the self-driving car eased back into the center lane believing an approaching transit bus would stop, Google said. The bus did not stop. "Our test driver, who had been watching the bus in the mirror, also expected the bus to slow or stop," Google said in its monthly report. "And we can imagine the bus driver assumed we were going to stay put. Unfortunately, all these assumptions led us to the same spot in the lane at the same time." The self-driving car was moving about two miles per hour when it collided with the side of the bus, which was traveling about 15 MPH, the accident report filed by Google said. The accident was reviewed and software modified to "more deeply understand" that buses and other large vehicles are less likely to yield to the self-driving cars, according to Google. But critics of the autonomous cars were not so forgiving. "This accident is more proof that robot car technology is not ready for auto pilot and a human driver needs to be able to take over when something goes wrong," Consumer Watchdog privacy project director John Simpson said in a release. "The police should be called to the site of every robot car crash and all technical data and video associated with the accident must be made public." Google has previously disclosed accidents involving its self-driving cars, but maintained that they resulted from the actions of humans and not its technology. gc/rl
Related Links Car Technology at SpaceMart.com
|
|
The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us. |