# Uber disabled Volvo safety system before fatality



## BurgerTiime (Jun 22, 2015)

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uber-pedestrian-technology-20180326-story.html

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey suspended Uber Technologies Inc.'s self-driving car tests on Monday, after the death of a pedestrian who was hit by one of the company's vehicles while crossing a road in Tempe.

"Improving public safety has always been the emphasis of Arizona's approach to autonomous vehicle testing, and my expectation is that public safety is also the top priority for all who operate this technology in the state of Arizona," Ducey said in his letter to Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi.

"The incident that took place on March 18 is an unquestionable failure to comply with this expectation."

Also on Monday, the auto-parts maker that supplied the radar and camera on the Volvo SUV that struck and killed the woman last week said Uber had disabled the standard collision-avoidance technology in the vehicle.

"We don't want people to be confused or think it was a failure of the technology that we supply for Volvo, because that's not the case," Zach Peterson, a spokesman for Aptiv, said by phone. The Volvo XC90's standard advanced driver-assistance system "has nothing to do" with the Uber test vehicle's autonomous driving system, he said.

Aptiv is speaking up for its technology to avoid being tainted by the fatality involving Uber, which may have been following standard practice by disabling other tech as it develops and tests its own autonomous driving system. Experts who saw video of the Uber crash pointed to apparent failures in Uber's sensor system, which failed to stop or slow the car as 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg crossed a street pushing a bicycle.

Police in Tempe, Ariz., and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the incident.

The driverless technology industry has tried in recent days to separate itself from the Uber fatality. Intel Corp.'s Mobileye, which makes chips and sensors used in collision-avoidance systems and is a supplier to Aptiv - which helps power the Volvo XC90's driver-assistance system - said Monday that it tested its own software after the crash by playing a video of the Uber incident on a television monitor.

Mobileye said it was able to detect Herzberg one second before impact in its internal tests, despite the poor secondhand quality of the video relative to a direct connection to cameras equipped to the car.

Waymo CEO John Krafcik on Saturday said his company's self-driving software would probably have avoided the pedestrian death. "We have a lot of confidence that our technology would be robust and would be able to handle situations like that one," Krafcik said in a speech to car dealers. Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo, the former Google car project, is considered the technical leader in the field.

Meanwhile, a top executive for the maker of sensors used on the self-driving Uber vehicle said she was "baffled" as to why the tech-outfitted vehicle failed to recognize a pedestrian crossing the street and hit the brakes.

Marta Thoma Hall, president of Velodyne Lidar Inc., maker of the special laser radar that helps an autonomous car "see" its surroundings, said the company doesn't believe its technology failed. But she's surprised the car didn't detect Herzberg.

"Certainly, our Lidar is capable of clearly imaging Elaine and her bicycle in this situation," Thoma Hall wrote in an email. "However, our Lidar doesn't make the decision to put on the brakes or get out of her way.

"In addition to Lidar, autonomous systems typically have several sensors, including camera and radar to make decisions," she wrote. "We don't know what sensors were on the Uber car that evening, if they were working, or how they were being used."

Uber's fatal crash immediately sparked a series of questions for the nascent driverless car industry. Some states, particularly Arizona, have embraced the tech, permitting companies to test without backup drivers behind the wheel.

Uber didn't immediately respond to a request for comment


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

BurgerTiime said:


> http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-uber-pedestrian-technology-20180326-story.html
> 
> Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey suspended Uber Technologies Inc.'s self-driving car tests on Monday, after the death of a pedestrian who was hit by one of the company's vehicles while crossing a road in Tempe.
> 
> ...


When the Lions appear at the watering hole
The herd is seen pushing Uber out.

Everyone Covering themselves is clear indication of how serious this will be from a Legal Stand point.

All Legal Consul of everyone involved is isolating Uber in order to Limit their own liabilities.

As much as Uber has pissed me off, i do hope they make it through this.

Is it just My imagination?
Or does the bicycle back wheel look out of round ?
Had she already had an accident prior to this collision ?
( maybe its the crappy camera)


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

BurgerTiime said:


> Zach Peterson, a spokesman for Aptiv. The Volvo XC90's standard advanced driver-assistance system "has nothing to do" with the Uber test vehicle's autonomous driving system.
> 
> Waymo CEO John Krafcik on Saturday said his company's self-driving software would probably have avoided the pedestrian death.
> 
> Marta Thoma Hall, president of Velodyne Lidar Inc., said the company doesn't believe its technology failed.


It's not me. No way it's my fault. Our stuff doesn't fail. Reminds me of the Goodyear tire blowout/SUV rollover incidents that we had many years back.


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## HotUberMess (Feb 25, 2018)

Haha look at that Waymo jerk twisting in the wind


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> It's not me. No way it's my fault. Our stuff doesn't fail. Reminds me of the Goodyear tire blowout/SUV rollover incidents that we had many years back.


They speak about the systems installed by Volvo, the systems every Volvo SUV gets from the factory. The camera and radars for collision avoidance.

Those systems were disabled because the self driving Uber systems were driving the car.


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## goneubering (Aug 17, 2017)

jocker12 said:


> They speak about the systems installed by Volvo, the systems every Volvo SUV gets from the factory. The camera and radars for collision avoidance.
> 
> Those systems were disabled because the self driving Uber systems were driving the car.


The more we learn the worse it sounds for Uber.


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## jocker12 (May 11, 2017)

goneubering said:


> The more we learn the worse it sounds for Uber.


Volvo made a big mistake by allowing Uber to alter Volvo systems, but I think that would have been part of the initial deal. Also, Uber wants to avoid any conflicting commands to the steering or braking systems, in case they have both active, because they probably work under different parameters and have different ways to detect obstacles.

The tragedy remains though...


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## RamzFanz (Jan 31, 2015)

HotUberMess said:


> Haha look at that Waymo jerk twisting in the wind


By saying the Waymo car would have handled the situation?

Reaching much?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> It's not me. No way it's my fault. Our stuff doesn't fail. Reminds me of the Goodyear tire blowout/SUV rollover incidents that we had many years back.


Thought that was Firestone.
( faulty rusted steel belts due to high humidity storage)

T


goneubering said:


> The more we learn the worse it sounds for Uber.


The worse it sounds for ALL ROBO CARS !


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## SEAL Team 5 (Dec 19, 2015)

tohunt4me said:


> Thought that was Firestone.
> ( faulty rusted steel belts due to high humidity storage)


Was it Firestone? It was so long ago I can't even remember who the manufacturer was, however I do remember for the first 6 months it was Ford blaming Firestone and Firestone blaming Ford.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SEAL Team 5 said:


> Was it Firestone? It was so long ago I can't even remember who the manufacturer was, however I do remember for the first 6 months it was Ford blaming Firestone and Firestone blaming Ford.


Faulty steel belts.
Rusty, weakened.
Tore apart under lateral normal stress.
Now Firestone is part of Bridgestone.
( rust does not bond well with synthetic rubber/ carbon black mixtures)
23 million tire recall after killing a number of people.

Goodyear is about the last major U.S. tire manufacturer.
Many are made in Mexico.
Goodyear plagued with weak sidewalls and blowout problems.


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## ntcindetroit (Mar 23, 2017)

Volvo is the only winner, get free publicity as my friend in Detroit taught me.
Most US car guys are not electronics educated, you simply can't trust any alteration done by any technician without repeated test and examination by another tech or engr. There are jobs for these new examiners. A lot of jobs to keep the AV's on road. It'll be paid better than an Uber Safety Driver we hope. 
We bought a research vehicle from a fed funded program just to research how Test vehicles was/were altered by a reputed research institution(s). The findings is our trade secrets.


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