 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
 by Staff Writers San Francisco (AFP) Nov 20, 2019
Uber said Wednesday plans to test a safety feature that lets passengers and drivers record their conversations and share them with the rideshare service. A test run of the option is planned to start next month in Brazil and Mexico, with the potential to expand it beyond those countries. "If necessary, this tool can help give us more clarity about what happened inside the vehicle on a trip," Uber global security products director Sachin Kansal said in an online post. The move comes amid rising concerns over safety and reports of assaults and harassment in rideshare vehicles. Recording conversations could help determine facts in a dispute, but could also raise issues around privacy. Audio recorded using the feature in the Uber smartphone app is encrypted and left on the handset, where remains unless a rider or driver decides to share it with the California-based company, according to Sachin. At the end of a trip, the Uber app will query whether there was a problem during the ride and a person wants to send the audio file. The audio can't be replayed by riders or drivers, according to the company. Uber has software "keys" to unlock encrypted audio that it is given.
US probe faults Uber, human error in self-driving car crash The National Transportation Safety Board said the "immediate cause" of the March 2018 accident was that the driver -- able to take the controls from the autonomous car at any time -- "was visually distracted throughout the trip by a personal cell phone." The report released late Tuesday also concluded that Uber's "inadequate safety risk assessment procedures, ineffective oversight of the vehicle operators and a lack of adequate mechanisms for addressing operators' automation complacency" were additional factors. The pedestrian killed in Tempe, Arizona was dressed in dark clothing and was pushing a bicycle that had no side reflectors when she crossed an unlighted section of roadway at night. The report came at the conclusion of a hearing at which NTSB chairman Robert Sumwalt offered harsh words for Uber's safety measures, including disabling a factory-installed collision warning system and automatic emergency braking system for the Volvo sport utility vehicle. "The inappropriate actions of both the automated driving system, as implemented, and the vehicle's human operator, were symptoms of a deeper problem: an ineffective safety culture," Sumwalt said in his opening statement at the hearing. The NTSB had sent a team to Tempe to investigate the fatal collision. The Uber vehicle was part of the company's self-driving fleet of vehicles. Uber temporarily suspended its autonomous ridesharing program, eventually putting its self-driving cars back on the road in Pittsburgh in "manual mode," with a driver at the wheel at all times. In a statement on the NTSB report, Uber said it was committed to making safety improvements. "We deeply regret the March 2018 crash that resulted in the loss of Elaine Herzberg's life, and we remain committed to improving the safety of our self-driving program," said Nat Beuse, who heads the division's safety efforts. "Over the last 20 months, we have provided the NTSB with complete access to information about our technology and the developments we have made since the crash. While we are proud of our progress, we will never lose sight of what brought us here or our responsibility to continue raising the bar on safety."
New York loses rideshare provider as Juno drops out New York (AFP) Nov 18, 2019 New York-based rideshare firm Juno said Monday it was shutting down its service, citing a "changing market situation," as its Israeli-based parent company announced a partnership with Lyft. Gett, the Israeli firm which acquired Juno in 2017, said the move came as it entered into a "strategic partnership" with Lyft to handle Gett's corporate clients in the United States. The Juno shutdown also stemmed from what Gett called "misguided regulations in New York City earlier this year" which capped th ... read more
|
|||||||||||||
|
|
| 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. |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
Google
