Wapo journalist verifies that robotaxis fail to stop for pedestrians in marked crosswalk 7 out of 10 times. Waymo admitted that it follows “social norms” rather than laws.
The reason is likely to compete with Uber, 🤦
Wapo article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/30/waymo-pedestrians-robotaxi-crosswalks/
Cross-posted from: https://mastodon.uno/users/rivoluzioneurbanamobilita/statuses/113746178244368036
Thing? Like a garbage bin? Or a sign?
Person, dog, cat, rolling cart, bicycle, etc.
If the car is smart enough to recognize a stationary atop sign then it should be able to ignore a permantly mounted crosswalk sign or indicator light at a crosswalk and exclude those from things that might move into the street. Or it could just stop and wait a couple seconds if it isn’t sure.
A woman was killed by a self driving car because she walked her bicycle across the road. The car hadn’t been programmed to understand what a person walking a bicycle is. Its AI switched between classifying her as a pedestrian, cyclist, and “unknown”. It couldn’t tell whether to slow down, and then it hit her. The engineers forgot to add a category, and someone died.
It shouldn’t even matter what category things are when they are on the road. If anything larger than gravel is in the road the car should stop.