Toyota suspends U.S. testing of self-driving vehicles.
03-21-18, 02:45 PM
#1
Lexus Fanatic
Thread Starter
Toyota suspends U.S. testing of self-driving vehicles.
Toyota has become the first major manufacturer to stop tests on self-driving vehicles, at least temporarily. Apparently they agree that the cart is getting too far ahead of the horse.
Moderators...I know we already have a Car Chat thread going on self-drivers, but that was a general thread, and this one, I felt, deserves a new thread because it is specifically Toyota-related). You can combine them, of course, if you disagree.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43478158
Toyota has suspended US tests of driverless cars on public roads following a fatal accident in Arizona involving one of Uber Technologies' self-driving vehicles.
Toyota said it was concerned about the "emotional effect" the incident might have on its test drivers.
The carmaker said it did not have a timeline for re-starting the trials.
The Arizona accident has revived debate about whether autonomous vehicles are being put into use prematurely.
Analysts say the technology has the potential to reduce accidents and expand transportation options for the disabled and elderly, but some have warned that the technology is not ready and urged regulators to introduce more stringent safety tests.
"Hopefully Congress will take note and stop rushing to deploy this immature technology," Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering at Duke University
after the accident in Arizona.
A survey last year by Pew Research Center found that more than half of Americans would not want to ride in a driverless car if given the option and expressed some level of worry about such vehicles.
The accident in Tempe, Arizona on Sunday is believed to be the first fatality involving a fully autonomous vehicle.
Police and federal officials are investigating the details of the incident, in which a 49-year-old woman was killed by an Uber car operating in autonomous mode. A human monitor was also behind the wheel.
On Tuesday, Tempe police said they had reviewed video of the crash and repeated that fault had not been determined.
Uber said after the accident that it would temporarily halt driverless car tests.
Toyota has also been performing trials of its Chauffeur mode on public roads in Michigan and California. The firm previously said it expected some of its cars to be equipped with automated driving technology by 2020.
"Because we feel the incident may have an emotional effect on our test drivers, we have decided to temporarily pause our Chauffeur mode testing on public roads," a spokesman said.
He said the firm is continuing its tests of driverless cars in other countries.
Moderators...I know we already have a Car Chat thread going on self-drivers, but that was a general thread, and this one, I felt, deserves a new thread because it is specifically Toyota-related). You can combine them, of course, if you disagree.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-43478158
Toyota has suspended US tests of driverless cars on public roads following a fatal accident in Arizona involving one of Uber Technologies' self-driving vehicles.
Toyota said it was concerned about the "emotional effect" the incident might have on its test drivers.
The carmaker said it did not have a timeline for re-starting the trials.
The Arizona accident has revived debate about whether autonomous vehicles are being put into use prematurely.
Analysts say the technology has the potential to reduce accidents and expand transportation options for the disabled and elderly, but some have warned that the technology is not ready and urged regulators to introduce more stringent safety tests.
"Hopefully Congress will take note and stop rushing to deploy this immature technology," Missy Cummings, a professor of engineering at Duke University
A survey last year by Pew Research Center found that more than half of Americans would not want to ride in a driverless car if given the option and expressed some level of worry about such vehicles.
The accident in Tempe, Arizona on Sunday is believed to be the first fatality involving a fully autonomous vehicle.
Police and federal officials are investigating the details of the incident, in which a 49-year-old woman was killed by an Uber car operating in autonomous mode. A human monitor was also behind the wheel.
On Tuesday, Tempe police said they had reviewed video of the crash and repeated that fault had not been determined.
Uber said after the accident that it would temporarily halt driverless car tests.
Toyota has also been performing trials of its Chauffeur mode on public roads in Michigan and California. The firm previously said it expected some of its cars to be equipped with automated driving technology by 2020.
"Because we feel the incident may have an emotional effect on our test drivers, we have decided to temporarily pause our Chauffeur mode testing on public roads," a spokesman said.
He said the firm is continuing its tests of driverless cars in other countries.
Last edited by mmarshall; 03-21-18 at 02:51 PM.
03-21-18, 03:19 PM
#2
Smart move from Toyota. All the nonsense from the nonsenual UA witch hunt is still fresh in their memory, and they don't need anymore such liability that can spur from automated cars.
Everyone interested in the topic should read this.
https://www.millercanfield.com/asset...2018_Final.pdf
AUTOMATED VEHICLES: LIABILITY CRASH COURSE MCITY—AFFILIATE LAW RESEARCH PROGRAM March 2018
Everyone interested in the topic should read this.
https://www.millercanfield.com/asset...2018_Final.pdf
AUTOMATED VEHICLES: LIABILITY CRASH COURSE MCITY—AFFILIATE LAW RESEARCH PROGRAM March 2018
03-21-18, 03:54 PM
#4
The pursuit of F
Good point, but it's about optics at this time...
Do we yet know the fault? We can't discount the unfortunate possibility the woman just suddenly crossed in front of the car without any time to physically avoid her, automated, or if human driven.
03-21-18, 05:06 PM
#5
Lexus Champion
It's a PR and legal liability move. The last thing you need is people looking at an autonomous Toyota running around in the midst of a viral story. And the worst thing you need is a collision right after this just happened, even if it is a minor one, because you can bet the news media would jump on it.
03-22-18, 01:04 AM
#7
IMO this is just a temporary "pause" due to bad press. But IMO the real thing Toyota will be looking for is the legal ramifications resulting from this death. If companies can be held on the hook for several million dollars every self driving car death, this technology will NEVER become viable, at least in the United States.
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03-22-18, 03:23 AM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
iTrader: (20)
not an either/or. liability and some free press for appearing 'sensible' are toyota motivations but the r&d will continue apace, just on private testing grounds and labs. the other nice thing about self-driving cars is you don't need physical cars at all to test, you can do a huge amount of it through simulation.
03-22-18, 04:51 AM
#10
But, main reason they said they did it was to focus on their test drivers... now it is obvious why - Uber test driver failed to react completely when their system failed. I think they will have to set much stricter rules for the drivers, industry wise... Because obviously they got careless, which is not surprising since it is tedious job.
03-22-18, 07:21 AM
#11
Pole Position
I disagree. Smart assessment pause on Toyota's part IMO. How many people drove manned cars today? A great deal many many more than there are self-driving cars, so not really a relevant / fair comparison. I think Toyota may be pausing to see if any litigation arises from this tragic incident - and until they know more about how that aspect of this whole self-driving car thing shakes out, smart move to hit the pause button IMO.
03-22-18, 10:15 AM
#12
They don't have to. I was just implying I'd rather see Toyota put their time and resources in battery technology rather than autonomous technology right now. As terrible as it is, take advantage of this moment and put autonomy on the back burner, let it simmer down. In the meantime they won't sit idly, work on other projects and technologies.
03-22-18, 02:03 PM
#13
Pole Position
In fact, re the responsibility of the human driver in the AZ incident, scenarios like this play out 1000s of times everyday in commercial aviation, where automated activities are supervised by a human pilot(s) (auto-pilot during flight, landing, take off). Much the same as in self-driving cars IMO, aircraft pilots owe not only their passengers, but the public at large, their full attention in operating their aircraft at all times – even during “automated” activities.
But alas, from a litigation standpoint, the driver is small potatoes, uber and the software developer (if they are not one in the same) are where the civil focus will most likely form - which IMO gives rise to Toyota's pause in testing.
But alas, from a litigation standpoint, the driver is small potatoes, uber and the software developer (if they are not one in the same) are where the civil focus will most likely form - which IMO gives rise to Toyota's pause in testing.