[SystemSafety] Uber "self-driving" cars run red lights on Day 1

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

So, the Cal DMV revoked the registrations of Uber's cars and invited the company - again - to apply
for a permit to test them on public roads. They said that one can be issued in 72 hours.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/21/uber-cancels-self-driving-car-trial-san-francisco-california

One can wonder about that. What about the reports of running red lights while pedestrians are
crossing, and serious questions about interactions with cyclists? How would DMV analyse and manage
that situation in 72 hours, even supposing they could call on expertise, experience and person-power
enough to be able to perform a Risk Analysis on an open system with complex technology in that time?

Suppose the analysis were not to be favorable, what then?

Another question is why these cars are apparently having problems in SF but not in Pittsburgh?

A third question is what society is to think about a legal entity putting an unprecedented
safety-critical technology into public space where it could harm people and ignoring the (mild)
regulation and regulator. I don't see how it is in anybody's interests to let such a thing happen.
What if companies running nuclear power plants started putting the finger up to the NRC?

Which raises the fourth question. Regulating automotive vehicles has been pretty straightforward so
far. Now that these complex open systems are beginning slowly to populate roads, could it be that we
need regulatory sophistication comparable to that for nuclear power or airworthiness certification
for commercial airplanes?

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Bielefeld, Germany
MoreInCommon
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs-bi.de





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