The nation's first pedestrian death involving an autonomous vehicle may have been unavoidable, according to local authorities, although the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigation into the incident continues.
The accident occurred Sunday night around 10 p.m., when 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg was struck by an Uber self-driving vehicle as she walked across a busy street outside of a crosswalk.
It’s been known for years now that driver fatigue is a serious risk – both on and off the job. A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found fatigue was the top cause of driver distractions, representing 20 percent of all motor vehicle accidents. We’re just not getting enough sleep.
Not long ago I bought a new car. It had been a while. While I was on the sidelines, the auto industry has been experiencing unprecedented transformation. One researcher claims there will be ten million self-driving cars on the road by 2020, with one in four cars being self-driving by 2030.
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has designated 10 proving ground pilot sites to encourage testing and information sharing around automated vehicle technologies. These proving ground designations will foster innovations with the goal of safely transform personal and commercial mobility, expand capacity, and open new doors to disadvantaged people and communities.
On Valentine’s Day in Silicon Valley, one of Google’s experimental, self-driving cars sideswiped a city bus at 2 miles an hour. The incident marked the first time an autonomous car contributed to an accident on a public road, but did nothing to diminish the Obama administration’s enthusiasm for driverless vehicles.
