Google driverless car crashes into bus (news.sky.com).
Despite foreseen to be safer and more reliable than traditional cars and insurance companies worst nightmare (vice.com, Feb. 2014) perhaps to be expected as driver-included cars still crash into dozens if not hundreds of buses a day, but:
“It is thought to have happened while the company was testing 24 of the cars fitted with sensors and cameras near the tech firm’s Silicon Valley headquarters. In a report filed with California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) the company reveals the car was trying to navigate its way round some sandbags at 2mph when it hit the bus that was travelling at 15mph.”
“2mph…” Oh crikey, surely a software bug there then, but what type of bug? Lets hope a hypothetical quantum “Bohrbug” rather than a “Heisenbug” which could be worse than a “Schrödinbug” at this early early stage of development: The four worst types of computer bug (turbinehq.com).
Updates/Follow Ups
12th March 2016
Driverless cars will take to Britain’s motorways for the first time next year (telegraph.co.uk).
“Driverless cars will take to Britain’s motorways for the first time next year, George Osborne has announced ahead of his Budget next week. The Chancellor said that trials will take place on local roads this year before being extended to A-roads and motorways in 2016. He vowed to clear red tape so that the cars can be sold to the public and put into widespread use on Britain’s roads by 2020.”
Presumably, Budget fudge and suggestively not EU red tape or not, they will cruise along at greater than 2mph and not crash into any buses regaling you with travel comfort targeted ads traversing the Daneholes roundabout.
17th March 2016
“Someone is going to die”: experts warn lawmakers over self-driving cars (theguardian.com).
As many do speedingly daily in drivered cars but it seems they feel progress and oppotunity are confused by those eager to have you sitting in the back enjoying uninterrupted targeted ad revenue:
“The robot car revolution hit a speed bump on Tuesday as senators and tech experts sounded stern warnings about the potentially fatal risks of self-driving cars. ‘There is no question that someone is going to die in this technology,’ said Duke University roboticist Missy Cummings in testimony before the US Senate committee on commerce, science and transportation. ‘The question is when and what can we do to minimize that.’
“Automotive executives and lawmakers sniped at each other over whether universal standards were necessary for self-driving cars, with private sector saying that standards would slow progress and legislators replying that they’d heard the same objections over updated seatbelt standards in 1998.”
Recent/related stories
- Google Explorer first to be fined by police for driving while wearing Google Glass headset (Pick of the Week 7th November 2013)
- Google will build a self-driving car (Pick of the Week 27th August 2013)
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