self-driving car

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A Self-Driving Uber Killed Her. Her Family Targets Where She Died

$10M claim says city of Tempe, Ariz., had brick path that encouraged people to jaywalk

(Newser) - Family members of the first American killed by an autonomous Uber vehicle have settled with Uber itself, but now they're going after an Arizona city for the homeless woman's death. Per the Arizona Republic , Elaine Herzberg, 49, was killed March 18, 2018, in Tempe by an Uber Volvo...

Driverless Cars Could Turn Into &#39;Red Light District on the Move&#39;
Study Finds
Illicit Side Effect
of Driverless Cars
study says
Nov 12, 2018 12:19 PM CST

Study Finds Illicit Side Effect of Driverless Cars

It's likely people will use them for sex, researchers say

(Newser) - One possible side effect of driverless cars that may not have occurred to you? An increasing number of people having sex in cars. In a new study from the Annals of Tourism Research titled " Autonomous vehicles and the future of urban tourism ," researchers note that self-driving cars could...

Silicon Valley Swap: Apple Gets Back Top Engineer From Tesla

Doug Field rumored to be working on Project Titan autonomous-car initiative

(Newser) - One Silicon Valley wheel just circled back to its starting point. A top Apple engineer who left in 2013 to join Tesla as its chief vehicle engineer is back with his former employer. The Verge reports that Doug Field, who'd been the VP of Mac hardware for the Cupertino...

Apple Employee Allegedly Stole Self-Driving Car Tech

Zhang Xiaolang was arrested as he was about to leave for China

(Newser) - A former Apple engineer was arrested as he was about to board a flight from San Jose to China Saturday, accused by US prosecutors of stealing tech secrets from the firm with the plan of passing them along to a Chinese startup, the Washington Post reports. Zhang Xiaolang, once a...

Uber Driver Was Streaming The Voice Before Fatal Crash

'Safety driver' in self-driving vehicle could face charges in Arizona

(Newser) - "Entirely avoidable." That's what police in Tempe, Arizona, have concluded about the fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber car and a pedestrian in March. One big reason? Police say the person in the car who was supposed to be providing a safety check was streaming The Voice...

Tesla in Autopilot Mode Crashes Into Police Car

It was 2nd autopilot crash in same spot

(Newser) - A Tesla in autopilot mode created yet more unfortunate headlines for the company when it slammed into a police cruiser in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Tuesday. Police say the patrol vehicle was totaled but it was thankfully unoccupied at the time of the crash, KTLA reports. A Tesla in semi-autonomous...

Crucial System Was Off in Fatal Self-Driving Uber Crash

Preliminary NTSB report is out on crash that killed pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona

(Newser) - The self-driving Uber vehicle that hit and killed an Arizona pedestrian in March had its emergency braking system disabled, according to a preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board released Thursday. Per the report, the self-driving system also failed in identifying the woman, Reuters reports, first classifying her as...

Elon Musk: Report on Tesla Safeguards 'Ridiculous'

Sources tell 'WSJ' Musk, other execs rejected safeguards due to cost, ineffectiveness

(Newser) - Despite recently suggesting driver complacency is to blame for serious crashes involving Tesla's Autopilot feature, Elon Musk has long rejected additional safeguards that could help keep drivers' eyes on the road, the Wall Street Journal reports. Discussed before and after Tesla's Autopilot vehicles hit the market—particularly after...

Report: Self-Driving Uber Detected, Ignored Pedestrian

It was set not to react to 'false positives'

(Newser) - Uber's self-driving technology detected a pedestrian before a deadly crash in Arizona earlier this year but didn't react quickly enough because it had been set to ignore "false positives," the Information reports, citing "two people briefed on the matter." The sources say the vehicle'...

NTSB Kicks Tesla Out of Investigation for Breaking Rules

Feds say electric car company prematurely made information public

(Newser) - Federal investigators say they have booted electric car maker Tesla from a group that's investigating a fatal March 23 crash of a Tesla Model X SUV in California. The National Transportation Safety Board said it removed Tesla as a party to the investigation after the company prematurely made information...

Tesla in Fatal Crash Was in Self-Driving Mode

Vehicle hit a highway barrier in California

(Newser) - The Tesla Model X that slammed into a highway barrier in California last week and killed the 38-year-old Apple engineer at the wheel had been on autopilot at the time of the crash, Tesla confirms in a blog post . But the company says driver Walter Huang "received several visual...

Arizona Has Chilly Response to Uber After Self-Driving Crash

Collision-avoidance tech disabled before deadly crash

(Newser) - Uber voluntarily pulled its self-driving cars from Arizona roads after a fatal accident earlier this month but when—or if—they return will be up to the state. Gov. Doug Ducey ordered the suspension of the company's self-driving car test program Monday, accusing Uber of not putting public safety...

'Disturbing' Video of Uber Self-Driving Crash Is Released

Police chief says it would have been hard to avoid for either human or robot

(Newser) - The pedestrian, the human backup operator, and the vehicle were all taken by surprise in what is believed to be the first pedestrian death in an accident involving a self-driving car, video released by police in Arizona shows. The video shared by police in Tempe on Tuesday shows 49-year-old Elaine...

Uber's Self-Driving Car Was Going 40mph, Didn't Slow

The latest on the crash that killed pedestrian Elaine Herzberg

(Newser) - The death of a 49-year-old pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday night is being called the first time a person has been killed by a self-driving vehicle, and Wired provides some perspective: "Human drivers kill just 1.16 people for every 100 million miles driven. Waymo and Uber and...

Self-Driving Uber Kills Woman Crossing an Arizona Street

Tempe police have identified her as Elaine Herzberg, 49

(Newser) - A self-driving Uber vehicle fatally struck a woman crossing the street in Tempe, Ariz., late Sunday. The woman, who AZ Family reports has been identified as Elaine Herzberg, 49, was not within a crosswalk; she was taken to a nearby hospital and died there. The vehicle was in autonomous mode...

GM's 'Eerie' New Car: Look, Ma, No Steering Wheel

Gas and brake pedals in self-driving car are gone, too

(Newser) - But what do you do with your hands? A question usually reserved for people posing for photographs or performing a monologue can now be asked by potential buyers of General Motors' newest self-driving car. That's because the latest incarnation has no steering wheel, or accelerator or brake pedal, swapping...

'Safety' Feature in Self-Driving Cars Was Actually 'Pretty Scary'

Waymo thought letting passengers take over controls would be safer—but it wasn't

(Newser) - When Waymo, Alphabet's self-driving car division that started in 2009 as a Google initiative, decided to offer an autopilot "out" for passengers—meaning they could take over the vehicle's controls if a dangerous situation arose—it seemed like a practical and needed feature. But the company's...

Critics Worry Over Safety If 'Self Drive Act' Passes

States wouldn't hold sway over design, construction of autonomous vehicles

(Newser) - As Uber, Waymo, and other Silicon Valley companies duke it out on the autonomous-vehicle scene, a House vote Wednesday will determine how and when those vehicles hit US roads. The Mercury News reports on the ballot-casting for the so-called "Self Drive Act," which spells out what role states...

A Virginia Driver Is Masquerading as a Car Seat

It's part of a Virginia Tech study of autonomous cars

(Newser) - It's still a couple of months until Halloween, but some in Arlington, Va., are already dressing up—as car seats. An NBC Washington reporter spotted a seemingly autonomous van driving around Arlington on Monday. On closer inspection, he realized there actually was a driver—the man was just disguised...

A New Uber Foe: Partnership of Lyft, Alphabet's Waymo

Self-driving vehicle sector just got even more competitive with new deal announcement

(Newser) - Lyft has the brawn via its nationwide fleet of taxis, Waymo has the brains with its self-driving technology, and together they just decided to make lots of money. The Wall Street Journal and New York Times report on a Sunday announcement from the two companies on a sparsely detailed deal...

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