A top US regulatory official on Tuesday said an investigation into a 2018 fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber car revealed "an ineffective safety culture" at the rideshare company.

National Transportation Safety Board chairman Robert Sumwalt made the remark while discussing a collision early last year in Arizona that killed a woman.

"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 in March of last year sent a team to Tempe, Arizona, to investigate the fatal collision of an Uber vehicle and a pedestrian.

The Uber vehicle was part of the company's self-driving fleet of vehicles.

"Although the vehicle's sensors first noted the pedestrian 5.6 seconds before impact, the system waffled between classifying her as a vehicle, a bicycle, or 'other,'" Sumwalt said.

Uber had disabled a factory-installed collision warning system and automatic emergency braking system while the Volvo sport utility vehicle was being used to test Uber autonomous driving capabilities, according to the NTSB.

The pedestrian 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.

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.

Related Links
Car Technology at SpaceMart.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

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