Video Shows Google Self-Driving Car Hit Bus
Source: Associated Press
Newly released video shows the first time a Google self-driving car being tested in public caused an accident. The Lexus SUV, outfitted by Google with special sensors, struck a public bus on Valentines Day in Mountain View, California.
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kracer20
(199 posts)Any idea if these cars have an actual human inside with controls, like you would see for student drivers?
What do you do if you are in an accident with one? Do they have a built in teleconference system so you can get driver details?
nichomachus
(12,754 posts)deathrind
(1,786 posts)REP
(21,691 posts)Yes they have a human in each one. Why would they be on the road empty!?? There'd be no point in that.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)I tend to think that ultimately would be precisely the point.
Think of what a lot of car trips are for. To go pick someone up, or to go pick something up.
Why should your spouse drive down to the train station to pick you up, when the car can go down there on its own.
Or, if I can purchase an item at a local store from the website for pick up, why should I bother to go get it when I can send the car. I give the store my plate number, pay online, and they have a drive-through pick up. When the car gets there, it opens the trunk, they put in the goods, and the car brings it home.
Restaurants without delivery? bah.
Taking it further, though, individual car ownership becomes somewhat pointless. You join a car share. When you want a car, you summon one like Uber. It comes to your location, picks you up (phone rfid verification), and takes you where you want to go. While there are a lot of incidental emotional attachments to cars, the basic reason for having one is to haul your ass from place to place - and it's mostly what you do with your car. Okay, so what if it is more cost effective to subscribe to transportation as a service, instead of owning, maintaining, insuring, etc. a car?
Pakhet
(520 posts)That way my non-driving son (we're working on it) can take that job that is impossible to take due to scheduling conflicts, like my work hours.
NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)NutmegYankee
(16,199 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)kracer20
(199 posts)Spitfire of ATJ
(32,723 posts)Thegonagle
(806 posts)All of Google's test cars have a test driver who is supposed to take over if the car's software does something wrong. They're only being tested in California, and California is (so far) requiring that a driver be at the controls at all times. The driver didn't take control back before the self-driving car pulled out in front of a bus. It probably happened too suddenly for the driver to react in time.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)I can't imagine that a "provisional driver" who only expects to react when needed would react as fast as a person in full control. Either the computers will have to be in full control or a human will. I cannot see how a human who expects to be a passenger most of the time would be able to take over.
Way back when I was in driver's ed the teacher had his own controls in case a student driver screwed up. I can remember a couple of times we were nearly in accidents when the teacher - who was alert and constantly ready to take over - was not able to react quickly. Fortunately the students were able to correct their mistakes quickly but it was close!
whatthehey
(3,660 posts)They are safer by orders of magnitude than human drivers.
goldent
(1,582 posts)PersonNumber503602
(1,134 posts)Also, how do they improve without actually doing it?
goldent
(1,582 posts)conditions with a test driver on board who needs to be ready to take over at any time (and does occasionally according to Google). They are not ready for the real world as is clear from this last story. I said that "someday" they may be safer drivers than humans but we aren't there yet.
whatthehey
(3,660 posts)How are human drivers allowed with their far higher aaccident rate and tens of thousands of deaths?
Why wait for perfection to replace carnage? All autonomous cars rationally need to be to be a fantastic advance, let alone "ready for the real world" is better than the godawful record of human drivers. They are already long past that. Trying to resist this advance is like refusing to countenance penicillin because some people react to it.
goldent
(1,582 posts)Google are making progress - it just is ready today. If it was ready today, Google would be making public demonstrations and talking to the regulators about how it could be certified. They just aren't there yet - it is going to take a long time.
PersonNumber503602
(1,134 posts)This is the first shared fault accident involving a google car after over a million miles driven on public streets. In your opinion, what's the criteria for it to be considered usable outside of controlled environments? No accidents out of how many miles? Should we apply similar criteria to human drivers?
goldent
(1,582 posts)to do with this accident. Google it testing under limited conditions in a small geographic area that has been well mapped out. The car needs to be turned over to regulators for testing and ultimately certification. Google will be eager to do that when they are ready - they have not brought it up yet. Google is doing great things, but they have a ways to go.
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)goldent
(1,582 posts)All but one of the accidents have legally been the other drivers fault, and they are often rear-end collisions. Google recognizes this and understand the Google car does not drive like most people (e.g. makes unexpected stops). They are working on it.
gcomeau
(5,764 posts)Thegonagle
(806 posts)They may possibly be statistically safer on Google's test routes in sunny California, depending on how the numbers are crunched, but they're definitely nowhere near practical yet. They don't drive on freeways or highways yet, and they can't even drive in rain, let alone worse weather.
Give it a few decades, and the state of the art might be good enough to do 99% of the driving, but self driving cars won't be taking over the streets any time soon.
Zorro
(15,740 posts)and it's deployed and operating now. Not perfect, but getting closer.
Turbineguy
(37,319 posts)One that is busy texting, runs red lights and stop signs, drives aggressively and has road rage.
chapdrum
(930 posts)"The little (search) engine that could" become an Overlord.
And what a tremendous contribution to society.
MADem
(135,425 posts)This really isn't "LBN" either.
bananas
(27,509 posts)The video was on AP's youtube channel, don't know why they removed it but it's on all other major news sites now.
Here's a couple of articles specifying it was released by AP:
VIDEO: Google Self-Driving SUV Sideswipes Bus in Calif.
By Riya Bhattacharjee and Associated Press
Published at 9:43 AM PST on Mar 9, 2016
Newly released video shows the first time a Google self-driving car being tested in public caused an accident.
The Lexus SUV, outfitted by Google with special sensors, struck a public bus on Valentines Day near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California.
The short video released to the Associated Press by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation (VTA) through a Public Records Act request doesn't actually show the collision, but you can make out an outline of the SUV as it sideswipes the right side of the bus, surprising the driver, who then stops the bus to check out the damage.
<snip>
AP Releases Video of Google's Valentine's Day Car Crash
Wed, 03/09/2016 - 2:29pm
by Greg Watry, Digital Reporter
It was not a day of love between Googles self-driving car and a public transit bus on Valentines Day 2016. On that day, Googles self-driving Lexus SUV was responsible for causing a crash in California. Now, surveillance video obtained by the Associated Press (AP) showing the crash has been released.
It was the first time in several years of testing on public roads that a Google self-driving car prototype caused a crash, according to the AP. Google has blamed other drivers for past collisions during testing, but, in a first, accepted at least partial responsibility for this crash.
According to the accident report, the Google vehicle was traveling in the far right-hand lane on El Camino Real in Mountain View, Calif. The car signaled to make a turn onto Castro Street while waiting at a red light.
<snip>
greymouse
(872 posts)Not sure what happened, maybe the car pulled out into traffic and hit the bus. How could that happen? I would think changing lanes would be an event programmed very thoroughly.
bananas
(27,509 posts)Thanks, from your link:
<snip>
Today, the Associated Press managed to get the Mountain View transit authority's footage from the bus' onboard camera. For reasons still unknown, that video was taken down Wednesday afternoon, but a copy of the footage was posted on the service Liveleak.
<snip>