Dec 20th 2016
Tech Break 3474
Cyclist Safety and Self-Driving Cars
Uber launched a self-driving service in San Francisco last week
Jason Howell and Megan Morrone discuss the news that Uber has admitted to a problem with its self-driving algorithm. Uber's self-driving cars are not interacting safely with cyclists in a bike lane. Uber told The Guardian that the company is working to fix a flaw in the programming that allows self-driving cars to safely make turns in bike lanes. The admission comes after Uber launched a self-driving service in San Francisco last week without first obtaining a permit. Prior to the story in the Guardian, the executive director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition issued a statement saying that he saw an Uber car in self-driving mode make an “unsafe right-hook-style turn through a bike lane"....twice. Anyone who's driven in San Francisco knows that cyclists pose a unique problem because they're agile and unpredictable. For now, Uber has instructed drivers to take the wheel when the cars are making right turns with a bike lane.
Full episode available at twit.tv/tnt/1665
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