Waching daily Mar 27 2018

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has suspended Uber's authorization to test its self-driving

cars on the state's roads following last week's crash in which a pedestrian died.

In a letter to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, Ducey said he found the video of the incident

"disturbing and alarming," adding that as governor, his top priority is public safety.

He said public safety should also be the top priority for those operating autonomous-car

technology, but said the fatal crash was "an unquestionable failure to comply with this

expectation."

He finished by saying that he had instructed the Arizona Department of Transportation to

suspend Uber's self-driving tests in the state.

Uber had already put the brakes on its experimental autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, Arizona; Pittsburgh,

Pennsylvania; Toronto, Canada, and San Francisco for an unspecified period following the deadly

collision on March 18 involving one of its prototypes and a woman in Tempe, Arizona.

Video footage taken by the car's onboard camera and released by the Tempe police department

raises more questions than it answers.

Meanwhile, the company that made the sensors fitted to the prototype said it's "baffled"

by the crash, and insiders revealed Uber's self-driving car program wasn't performing

as expected even before the incident first made headlines.

The incident likely marks the first pedestrian fatality involving an autonomous vehicle.

The city's police chief told the San Francisco Chronicle the preliminary investigation suggests

Uber isn't to blame in the crash, though the details gradually trickling out of the

investigation suggest it's not fault-free, either.

What happened?

49-year old Elaine Herzberg, who was struck while pushing her bike and later died from

her injuries, was walking outside of the crosswalk, according to a Tempe police department statement.

The car was operating in self-driving mode, the police said, but a vehicle operator was

behind the wheel at the time.

The car was traveling at 40 mph in a 45 mph zone when it hit Herzberg and it made no attempt

to brake or swerve.

The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that it planned to open an investigation

of the incident, noting "more to come."

The footage highlights several important details.

First, it shows Herzberg was already well into the roadway when the prototype hit her.

This contradicts earlier reports claiming she darted across the road at the last minute.

It consequently also raises the question of why the armada of sensors — including some

that see at night — didn't recognize a pedestrian and a bicycle on a dark but otherwise

clear street.

Second, the video confirms the prototype's operator took her eyes off the road for several

seconds at a time in the moments leading up to the crash.

We don't know if that's a violation of Uber's operator guidelines.

We reached out to the company for clarification but a spokesperson declined to comment.

The video represents the most important piece of information in the investigation.

"It's very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode

(autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway,"

Sylvia Moir, Tempe's police chief, concluded.

But while Uber's prototype might not be at fault, the operator behind the wheel could

ultimately face charges.

Who's to blame?

"I suspect preliminarily it appears that Uber would likely not be at fault in this

accident," Moir said.

"I won't rule out the potential to file charges against the (backup driver) in the

Uber vehicle," she added.

Velodyne, the San Jose-based company that made some of the sensors fitted to the Uber

prototype, paints a different picture.

The company told the BBC it's "baffled" by the accident and it's still trying to

understand how it happened.

It claims the Lidar it sold Uber should have spotted Herzberg even in pitch-black conditions.

"Our Lidar can see perfectly well in the dark, as well as it sees in daylight, producing

millions of points of information.

However, it is up to the rest of the system to interpret and use the data to make decisions.

We do not know how the Uber system of decision-making works," Marta Hall, Velodyne Lidar's president

explained.

"We do not believe the accident was due to Lidar," she added.

Uber chose not to issue a reply while the investigation is still ongoing.

Insiders suggest Uber's self-driving car program began struggling well before the crash.

Speaking to The New York Times, they added the company struggled to meet its goal of

one human intervention every 13 miles.

To add context, Waymo averages one human intervention every 5,600 miles.

To complicate the matter, Uber recently asked its self-driving operators to test cars on

public roads on their own instead of pairing up in teams.

Some employees expressed safety concerns, notably due to the difficulty of staying alert

during the long hours spent behind the wheel.

The same insiders said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi nearly shut down the self-driving car program

when he arrived at the company in August 2017.

He ultimately saved it because it's important for the company's long-term prospects.

He was due to visit the program in Arizona this spring, and employees hoped to give him

a trouble-free ride in a prototype, but he canceled the trip due to scheduling programs

unrelated to the accident.

What has the response been?

"Our hearts go out to the victim's family.

We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident,"

an Uber spokesperson told Digital Trends.

The company described the pause in its autonomous vehicle program as "a standard move."

As of writing, testing hasn't resumed.

Khosrowshahi tweeted his condolences about the sad news, noting that "we're thinking

of the victim's family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened."

Anthony Foxx, who served as U.S. Secretary of Transportation under President Barack Obama,

urged a greater emphasis on self-driving car safety in his own statement:

"There is still so much to know about the Tempe driverless car accident resulting in

a loss of life.

That said, this is a wake up call to the entire AV industry and government to put a high priority

on safety."

Velodyne's Hall added "we are very sad, sorry, and worried for the future of a project

which is intended to save lives."

What else do we know?

Arizona has seen an alarming number of pedestrian deaths this year.

A report from the Governors Highway Safety Association released March 1 said Arizona

had the highest rate of pedestrian fatalities in the nation, based on available data from

2017.

Autonomous vehicles from Uber have been operating in Arizona since February 2017 as part of

a national series of tests of self-driving vehicles.

The company planned to launch a commercial self-driving car service in the state by the

end of the year, though it's not clear whether that's still in the works.

Sources also claimed Uber had entered talks with Toyota to sell its self-driving technology.

Again, we don't know where the deal stands.

USA Today reports that the vehicle operator, 44-year old Rafaela Vasquez, served almost

four years in an Arizona prison in the early 2000s for an attempted armed robbery conviction.

An Uber spokesperson declined to comment to the paper on the conviction or the company's

hiring policies, citing an active investigation.

Updated on March 24th: Added quotes from Velodyne, and information about Uber's project nearly

getting canceled.

Updated on March 26th: Added details of Arizona's decision to suspend testing of Uber's self-driving

cars in the state.