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GOOGLE’S FUTURISTIC SELF-DRIVING cars needed some old-fashioned human intervention to avoid 11 crashes during testing on California roads, the company revealed on Tuesday, results it says are encouraging but show the technology has yet to reach the goal of not needing someone behind the wheel.
With Google’s fleet logging tens of thousands of miles each month, the 11 instances would be the equivalent of a car having one event every three years, based on how much the average vehicle is driven in the US.
There were another 272 cases in which failures of the cars’ software or onboard sensors forced the person who must be in the front seat – just in case – to grab the wheel during roughly a year of testing.
Human intervention
Though Google did not release detailed scenarios, the problems included issues with the self-driving cars seeing traffic lights, yielding to pedestrians or committing traffic violations. There were also cases where intervention was needed because other drivers were reckless, and several dozen instances of an “unwanted maneuver” by Google’s car.
“There’s none where it was like, ‘Holy cow, we just avoided a big wreck,’” said Chris Urmson, who heads Google’s self-driving car project. During this phase of testing, Google cars usually stay below 56 km/h although they also drive on motorways.
“We’re seeing lots of improvement. But it’s not quite ready yet,” Urmson said. “That’s exactly why we test our vehicles with a steering wheel and pedals”.
Bryant Walker Smith, a professor at the University of South Carolina who closely follows self-driving car developments, said the rate of potential collisions was “not terribly high, but certainly not trivial.” He said it remains difficult to gauge how Google’s cars compare to accident rates among human drivers, since even the best data underreport minor collisions that are never reported to authorities.
While the problem rate is “impressively low,” a trained safety driver should remain in the front seat, said Raj Rajkumar, an engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University who specialises in self-driving cars.
According to data in Google’s report, a driver typically took control within one second of the car asking for help.
John Simpson, a frequent critic of Google who focuses on privacy issues for the non-profit group Consumer Watchdog, said the report “underscores the need for a driver behind the steering wheel capable of taking control of the robot car.”
Google has argued to California regulators that once the company concludes the cars are ready for the public to use, they should not need a steering wheel or pedals because human intervention would actually make them less safe.
“It’s unfathomable that Google is pushing back” on the need for a wheel and pedals, Simpson said.
Growing competition
Seven companies with permission to test self-driving prototypes on California roads were required to report to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles instances in which drivers had to take over due to technology problems or safety concerns.
The Associated Press has filed a public records act request for all the reports; the DMV has not formally replied and did not reply to a request for comment Tuesday.
Google released its report before the agency, or the other companies, in what it described as an effort to be transparent about its safety record. The company had lobbied against having to report “disengagements” from self-driving mode, saying the data could be misinterpreted.
In all, Google reported 341 total safety-related disengagements during 682,000 kilometres of testing, which took place mostly in neighborhoods near Google’s Silicon Valley headquarters or on the streets of Austin, Texas.
Google ran 49 cars between September 2014, when California began formally allowing prototype testing in public, and the end of November.
With the average vehicle traveling about 19,000 kilometres each year, according to the US Department of Transportation, a Google car required human intervention for one reason or another the equivalent of about 10 times per driving year.
That rate has improved in recent months, according to Google data. Urmson cautioned that the rate might again rise as Google subjects the cars to more challenging environments and weather conditions.
Google said its cars would have been responsible in eight of the 11 avoided accidents, according to computer modeling the company performed later. In two other cases, its cars would have hit a traffic cone.
Google cars have been involved in nine collisions since September 2014. In each case, the other car was responsible, according to an analysis by researchers at Virginia Tech University.
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Philippines will sort them out in no time
How can other religions move to countries and not cause havoc and mayhem? Can you imagine scientologists blowing up and shooting innocent people? They’d be shut down in a heartbeat so why is the religion of peace tolerated? I’ll tell you why. You’d get labeled a racist by people who hate labels. Can you imagine Jews fighting for Nazi rights just as liberals fight for Islam. This is what happens when you get brainwashed people who swallow mainstream media with an agenda. Wonder why there are no bombings in places like Japan? A tiny Muslim population that’s why. World leaders in common sense and the blindingly obvious.
@SteveW: perhaps tolerated because it is not responsible, it is the social outcast(s) who islamized their radical view, Japan is not immune but western media coverage is more intense here and gives account in English language, you won’t see CNN Japan being tuned into when something happens in Tokyo or anywhere else for that matter
Red not being funny here but what on earth has media coverage or speaking English got to do with anything? What about other countries that have to put up with these large minority”outcasts” you’re defending? Burma, Kashmir, China, Thailand, Kenya, Ceychnya, Phillipines to name a few. And that’s not including Europe and US.
@Red Marauder: it seems like every country islam has settled in there is serious terrorism problem now south Philippines is exploding now into serious violence. south sudan south Thailand nearly all of Africa all across middle east there is major wars going … after watching primtime on RTE tonight on Islamic extremists i am becoming very fearful for my family future and myself and like all other irish people throughout the island of Ireland…..
@Bobby wilson: And that was on RTE , who had an article about everyones favorite troll Katie Hopkins being sacked for saying there is a problem with islam . https://www.rte.ie/entertainment/2017/0526/878159-katie-hopkins/
@SteveW: it is simple to install fear you need widespread coverage, so they choose targets which will be in the news, it is repeated everytime, a mall, a concert, twin towers etc, the density of media coverage is highest in Western countries where English is universal
@Remy: everyone can quote the Koran, there is no central regulation, you not need to be a scholar for that, now how you sell it or interpret it is different, there are far more peaceful Muslims than what you hear about in the news
@Red Marauder: ”there are far more peaceful Muslims than what you hear about in the news” . Phew ! Thank god you said that , I was thinking it was the 75% were radical , Thank heavens it’s only the other 25% .
doing some basic math, we get that about 006625% not even close to your estimates
@SteveW: 110%
@Remy: people like you and your ilk are just part of the problem
”Tis gonna be a red Ramadan
This atrocity and outrage will be handled in the Phillipines but it will scare the wits out of us Irish and get us highly exercised.
Many Irish live in fear and terror although we are far from a prime target.
@Tony Daly: I actually can’t think of anyone I know who lives in fear of an ISIS attack. I do know plenty who agree we should do our bit to help those trying to escape the terror of these animals while also protecting ourselves by having proper checks on those entering our country.
@Tony Daly: As far I’m aware no one lives in fear of isis in Ireland , but it’s only right that we examine it’s core ideology . Prime time has a segment on isis in Ireland , which obviously doesn’t exist . Whaaaatt !
@Jane: I am taking lots of the alarmist comments at face value. It could be just posturing of course but after each atrocity the alarmism expressed is voluble and even hysterical.
@Ken Hayden: of course it may just be intentional alarmism and deliberate exaggeration of threat on the part of those who comment on Ireland as a target of ISIS.
I rember the hysterical and emotive comments after previous outrages in Europe predicting Ireland as the next target.
It may just be playing up by those who wish to stir up fear and hate or else the Irish are an especially timid nation.
@Tony Daly: And of course , it just might not be deliberate exaggeration .
It cannot be said enough , not all muslims are terrorists , but in among them , there are people who can be , and are radicalized . Denying there is no threat is not a solution .
@Tony Daly: it’s not fear. Tony or alarmist comments. It’s frustration that the empty vessels that make the most noise ie a small minority of do Gooders that get listened to because they shout racist and the pure frustration at the apologists that are so mind numbingly stupid that they get listened to by policy makers
@Tony Daly: why is their a constant down playing on all this Islamic terrorism across the globe by far left supporters by making out its western countries fault for making Islamic people angry.. Their is attacks on churches in Egypt /Nigeria /Pakistan /Iraq /Syria and many many more soon their will be no more Christians in the middle east except Israel…..
@Bobby wilson: 6 Things that cause islamic terrorism .
Intolerance .
Unemployment .
Poor quality council housing .
Not enough diversity on the BBC .
Islamophobic tweets .
Katie Hopkins .
Things that don’t cause islamic terrorism .
The ancient holy book which promises a blissful eternity in the afterlife for anyone who wages deadly jihad against the infidel .
I’m here in Manila. The chief of cops is on tv saying it was some lad trying to rob chips from the casino. Very much doubt it was ISIS related.
@Richie Kennedy: isis claimed responsibility?
@Jackson Bollovks: When the chips are down .
@Richie Kennedy: any more info Richie? My mum is on Negros at the moment but flying to Manila on Saturday to head home Sunday. Slightly concerned
@Maria ✏️: I’m living in Makati Maria, a city in Metro Manila. No updates but nothing to be concerned about. Might be some heightened security at the airport which is a good thing.
@Maria ✏️: Flights are delayed alright so she could miss a connection. The security in the airport is always tight so I wouldn’t worry too much. It seems to have been a lone gunman trying to steal gambling chips.
@Jackson Bollovks: I’d say they would claim responsibility for anything to sow fear. Doesn’t appear to be a terrorism incident based on the information available.
Casino Royal-Q’aeda
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