Footage Shows Uber's Autonomous Car Failing To See The Pedestrian It Hit
Police investigating the first pedestrian fatality caused by an autonomous car have released footage of how the tragic accident occurred.
We’ve chosen not to embed the Uber-operated car’s footage here because, although it stops a split-second before the fateful impact itself, by its nature it’s disturbing to watch. If you wish, you can view it on Twitter here, but we’ve offered fair warning.
Crucially, this footage shows that Elaine Herzberg, 49, didn’t simply dart out into the road as had previously been reported: she was crossing it in what should have been plain sight of the sensor array. That the car apparently didn’t detect her at all is terrifying.
The car’s interior camera shows the human back-up driver looking down for long moments before the crash. From this footage the driver wouldn’t have had much warning from the car’s dipped headlights, but the human eye can see greater contrast than the camera can, and could potentially have seen Herzberg crossing if it hadn’t been for whatever the lap-sited distraction was.
Local police in Tempe, Arizona, have reported that the Uber prototype was travelling at 38mph in a 35mph-limited area; something we thought autonomous cars wouldn’t allow. Travelling slower, the car may have missed Herzberg altogether or given the driver more time to react. Judging by the evidence here, this accident was totally preventable by both machine and human.
Comments
This is a very complex situation. Firstly, I think we can agree that you should not walk out on a road with dark clothing without even looking for cars, so there is a chance that she was drunk. Secondly there are videos claiming that the stretch of road isn’t actually as dark as it is in the video,
(Accidentally pressed post, don’t know why I can’t just edit the comment) …even if that is true, there would have to be a BIG difference for a person to be able to see her in time to either stop or swerve. That means that the person in the car probably couldn’t have done anything, even if he/she would be looking at the road all the time. Speaking of looking at the road, if the driver was looking at a phone, then it’s obviously very irresponsible, but they might just have been looking at the central dashboard. The only thing I’m worried about is why the computer didn’t see her, it feels like this is a textbook example of what a nightvision camera (don’t know the proper term) shoudl be able to detect
…the human eye can see greater contrast than the camera can, and could potentially have seen Herzberg crossing if it hadn’t been for whatever the lap-sited distraction was.
You’re not wrong. A human eye has the equivalent resolution of a 576 megapixels camera while the cameras used in these autonomous cars is basically a standard camera found in mobile phones.
This got me thinking whether if the insurance companies and the government would back the idea of an assisted technology thats miniscule and “underdeveloped” compared to what the human being itself is naturally capable of and replace it with some sensor and camera based system taken from the mobile/camera industry, implemented for a consumer product and expect it to be better than the human being itself while the tech itself is years away from achieving human like quality… it all sounds like a recipe for massive disaster.
Exactly!! Preach my man 🙏
Glad Volvo isn’t in any trouble for this
Remeber when Mercedes had/maybe still has nightvision with pedestrian detection on their non autonomous cars? It’s amazing that a expensive luxury SUV like the XC90 with hardware to make it autonomous doesn’t have infrared cameras. Also on a new generation expensive SUV Volvo has one of those smart (active) headlights which turn the full beams on in the areas where it doesn’t affect other cars. But in USA they are still stuck with oldschool lightbulbs on cars. I’m a fan of being able to change the lightbulb myself for 5 $ but in this situation some new generation laser headlights might have saved a life.
the US isn’t still using only sealed beam headlights
To be fair, the lady was crossing a highway in the middle of the dark with no lighting whatsoever.
Technology doing more harm than good… Any person behind the wheel should be alert at all times till the tech is fully ready..!!
To be fair, she was jaywalking and the car didnt have enough time or space to stop
My opinion: while the vehicle could have prevented the crash, it is up to pedestrians to manage risk and cross roads in a safe manner. The car was not travelling at excessive speed (no faster than your average driver would be going) and had headlights on, so it should have been clearly visible. I do not want to completely blame the victim, but if this vehicle wasn’t autonomous, a story like this wouldn’t make it past the local news. I just hope they don’t sue or anything because i firmly believe that Uber is not the main party responsible.
Dude I just laughed with my buddy for 5 minutes because that goatee XD
very disturbing.
Both robot and human failed at the same time.
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