General Motors' robotaxi service suspends driverless operations nationwide regulators
General Motors' robotaxi service suspends driverless operations nationwide regulators
General Motors’ Cruise says it's suspending its driverless operations nationwide as the robotaxi service works to rebuild public trust.
General Motors’ Cruise says it's suspending its driverless operations nationwide as the robotaxi service works to rebuild public trust.
Cruise has also previously maintained that its record of driverless miles have outperformed comparable human drivers in terms of safety, notably crash rates.
But is this actually true? I hate that they just printed this without any attempt to verify it. Surely some independent body has looked into this by now.
It's not true, this is not the first time Cruise has been caught lying, and at some point an adult needs to step up and tell them to stop putting people in danger.
Even Waymo has commented on the past about Cruise playing fast and loose with the definitions of things that needed to be reported.
Waymo cars seem to operate much more sensibly than Cruise ones from what I've watched and read... although IMO that is mainly down to the car calling it quits much sooner and asking for an operator to take control, and driving in a different environment in general.
Cruise on the other hand seems to just carry on anyway, unless its lidar is blocked 😳
Pretty sure it IS 1v1 factually true, but the real question is, "why?". Is it because everyone is weary around a car with a huge-ass camera and sensor system on top that doesn't have a driver? Or because the system is good?
Driverless cars are certainly less error-prone overall than human operated ones. Distraction, sleepiness, intoxication, hubris, and other common "human error" causes of accidents are eliminated. Now we're seeing, though, that human beings - even pretty average ones - are still able to make better judgments in unique situations.
Because the recent incidents have been so laughably stupid from a human perspective, the instinct is to doubt the accuracy of driverless cars in all situations. The robots are able to do the comparatively simple things extremely well. It's just the more complex things they still have trouble with - so far. They're still safer than human operators, and will only continue to get better.
Humans make the same mistakes though. Backup cameras were added to cars because humans kept running over people, especially kids. People block emergency vehicles all the time.
Yes, the automation will always have room for improvement, but the current 'newsworthy' incidents are rarely in the news when humans do the exact same thing.
I suspect there is something more to this than just that. After all, the car in question did this:
Earlier this month, a Cruise robotaxi notably ran over a pedestrian who had been hit by another vehicle driven by a human. The pedestrian became pinned under a tire of the Cruise vehicle after it came to a stop — and then was pulled for about 20 feet (six meters) as the car attempted to move off the road.
It seems like there are unsolvable safety problems going on.
Yes, the car does not appear to have safety features that let it know a body is caught underneath, but it did try to get out of traffic after the collision.
Since this never happens to human drivers that means autonomous cars are unfeasible.
Or it is an opportunity to add some additional sensors underneath that will make it miles better than human drivers.
Really the main problem with autonomous cars at this point in time is a combination of the co panes hiding issues and the public expecting perfection. More transparency and a 3rd party comparison to human drivers would be the best way to both improve automation and gain public trust when they actually see how bad human drivers can be.
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You would think a self driving car could have 360 degrees of vision and not run into things, whether it's a firetruck or a cardboard box or a person. That should be job 1 for self driving.
It would be nice if we had a Ralph Nader for AI driving.
He did a lot for safety decades ago. Feels like we need similar now.
Ironically, the accident that caused them to decide Cruise is unsafe was started by a human driver hit-and-run. So the humans are still more unsafe, but they are punishing the robots for it
I knew this coming— with my soft, human brain.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
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In a Tuesday statement, Cruise said it cooperating with regulators investigating the Oct. 2 accident — and that its engineers are working on way for its robotaxis to improve their response “to this kind of extremely rare event.”
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Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies automated vehicles, wants to know “who knew what when?” at Cruise, and maybe GM, following the accident.
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In December of last year, the NHSTA opened a separate probe into reports of Cruise’s robotaxis that stopped too quickly or unexpectedly quit moving, potentially stranding passengers.
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According to an Oct. 20 letter that was made public Thursday, since beginning this probe the NHSTA has received five other reports of Cruise AVs unexpectedly breaking with no obstacles ahead.
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Cruise has also previously maintained that its record of driverless miles have outperformed comparable human drivers in terms of safety, notably crash rates.
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Walker Smith notes that there are several possibilities — including distinguishing Cruise’s prospects from its competitors, particularly those who haven’t expanded as aggressively, or a “Tesla scenario” where initial outrage may not amount to prompt, significant changes.
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