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Self-Driving Uber Car Kills Arizona Pedestrian


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Let's ignore the fact that the woman is 100% at fault for getting herself run over.

 

The woman ignored this sign telling pedestrians not to cross Mill Avenue where she did. That action was unfortunately deadly for her. But as you mentioned, 100% her fault.

 

rr4m5v.jpg

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The woman ignored this sign telling pedestrians not to cross Mill Avenue where she did. That action was unfortunately deadly for her. But as you mentioned, 100% her fault.

 

rr4m5v.jpg

If you have to put up a sign, that usually means you have a large issue with people crossing where you don't want them too. Looking at the Ariel photo you have decretive paths that cross the median that look like cross points, It is very poor road design. You have designed something that looks like a crosswalk and then go, no you shouldn't cross here. Removing the brick and making it more natural people are more apt to use the designated crosswalk at the signal. There is too little resistance when you have a design like this to discourage mid-block crossings.

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Why is that sign facing the road? Wouldn't it make more sense to turn it around so that people could see it when they need to instead of after they have already crossed the road? It's quite possible she didn't even see that sign.

 

There's the blame...whomever put that sign up facing the wrong direction. BAM! Lawsuit!

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Why is that sign facing the road? Wouldn't it make more sense to turn it around so that people could see it when they need to instead of after they have already crossed the road? It's quite possible she didn't even see that sign.

 

There's the blame...whomever put that sign up facing the wrong direction. BAM! Lawsuit!

Its on the median, facing the people that would cross, to the paved crossing with a streetlight on it. But don't cross here..... Its also the issue with HPS streetlights, they don't produce a good light to see color difference.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4362927,-111.9424451,3a,75y,303.42h,62.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4fS1O8O3KI3F7Tw5Mip-ww!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Edited by jasonj80
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Its on the median, facing the people that would cross, to the paved crossing with a streetlight on it. But don't cross here..... Its also the issue with HPS streetlights, they don't produce a good light to see color difference.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4362927,-111.9424451,3a,75y,303.42h,62.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4fS1O8O3KI3F7Tw5Mip-ww!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

 

That can't be seen well enough at night from across the street.

 

Side note, ain't Google Street View awesome!

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Its on the median, facing the people that would cross, to the paved crossing with a streetlight on it. But don't cross here..... Its also the issue with HPS streetlights, they don't produce a good light to see color difference.

 

https://www.google.com/maps/@33.4362927,-111.9424451,3a,75y,303.42h,62.32t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s4fS1O8O3KI3F7Tw5Mip-ww!2e0!7i13312!8i6656

Given the lack of lighting conditions and the blackness she was in,there's no way that she could have read the sign.

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Its also the issue with HPS streetlights, they don't produce a good light to see color difference.

 

Yes sir, HPS lamps have a low color rendering index. A lot of people dislike HPS for this reason. Like many other cities, Tempe has been replacing HPS streetlights with LED and magnetic induction lamps, and will continue doing so over the next 4-5 years. http://www.tempe.gov/city-hall/public-works/transportation/energy-efficient-led-streetlights

 

The new streetlights should improve safety for motorists, bicyclists, and pedestrians, and also reduce light pollution.

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But the headlights of the car should have been visible.

Well heres a clue, they werent lighting up where she was crossing,

maybe that threw off her judgements of the distance thinking she had more time

 

Hell of a spot to cross and must be an issue for local authorities, maybe fences go up now

 

Not so much about whos fault this was as much as what could have been done

To prevent the tragedy

1. Dont cross there, girl makes better choice and crosses somewhere else

2. authorities put up fences and barricades to physically stop people 24/7

2. Human observer does hi job and watches the road

3. Observer switches headlights to high beam

4. On high beam observer sees girl before AV does and reacts.

Edited by jpd80
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Im all for people taking responsibility but equally others have a duty of care

to protect people from themselves and to avoid situations like this by doing

more than just putting up a sign that cant be seen at night.

Edited by jpd80
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40 in a 45 was what the police report said I believe.

"Police have said the Volvo had a video camera that recorded the crash. The Volvo was traveling about 40 mph and made no visible attempt to brake in the video, Elcock said.

The speed limit in the area is 35 mph".

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Maybe if the "driver" of the car was paying attention instead of texting he / she could have maybe swerved a bit to the left and possible missed her. Why does everybody think that texting while behind the wheel is OK? The "driver" is just as much at fault as the woman that got killed.

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Maybe if the "driver" of the car was paying attention instead of texting he / she could have maybe swerved a bit to the left and possible missed her. Why does everybody think that texting while behind the wheel is OK? The "driver" is just as much at fault as the woman that got killed.

 

Holy freaking $hit!

 

So pedestrians can just step out in front of a moving vehicle and expect the driver to avoid them regardless? Seriously? Come on man, that's just idiotic thinking!

 

Blame the headlights!

Blame the driver for texting!

Blame the car for going too fast!

Blame the sign!

Blame the engineers who designed the road!

Blame the sun for going down too soon!

 

Blame whatever the hell you feel like, but dammit, don't expect someone to look before stepping out in front of a car. Good grief people! This is a snippet of what is wrong with society today. Take responsibility for your actions!

 

It's really sad the woman is dead, but I'm glad the cops have found no wrongdoing on the part of the driver or the car. Yes, he should have been paying more attention and maybe the woman would have lived, but she died due to her own negligence. The driver is going to have to live with this the rest of his life, too. Not only did her actions lead to her death, but now another person is going to live with those nightmares and guilt forever.

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Regardless of the fault of the pedestrian, the technology failed completely. The Volvo didn't brake, didn't swerve, didn't react at all to the pedestrian - it just plowed right into her. And she didn't "step out in front of the car", she was already 1 1/2 lanes across the road when the Volvo struck her. The technology failed to recognize a pedestrian who was already well in the road before the arrival of the vehicle - she didn't "step out in front of the car". Thankfully we have the video that shows exactly where she was and how much progress she had made.

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LOL

Texting while driving is illegal is it not?

 

I understand what you're saying about a person MAYBE being able to swerve if they were paying attention, but that's a big Maybe given how quickly the person came into view. It's not like she was 50 yards away.

 

Even glancing down at the speedometer or at the radio display for a split second would be enough to miss her in front of the car until it was too late.

 

We teach 5 year olds to look before crossing the street and there is no way to miss a SUV with headlights at 10 pm heading towards you.

 

There is only so much you can do to prevent people from doing stupid things and killing themselves.

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I understand what you're saying about a person MAYBE being able to swerve if they were paying attention, but that's a big Maybe given how quickly the person came into view. It's not like she was 50 yards away.

 

Even glancing down at the speedometer or at the radio display for a split second would be enough to miss her in front of the car until it was too late.

 

We teach 5 year olds to look before crossing the street and there is no way to miss a SUV with headlights at 10 pm heading towards you.

 

There is only so much you can do to prevent people from doing stupid things and killing themselves.

The finding holds implications for traffic safety. Each dashed line measures 10 feet, and the empty spaces in-between measure 30 feet. So every time a car passes a new dashed line, the car has traveled 40 feet.

 

So looking at the video again you can see the ladies shoes at about 60-80 feet away. I think that at 38 MPH you would have some time to react some what. Opinions?

Edited by coupe3w
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Texting while driving is illegal is it not?

 

Not in Arizona sir. Arizona is one of two U.S. states where texting and driving is not illegal. Montana is the other. Missouri makes it illegal only for drivers 21 years or younger. http://www.ncsl.org/research/transportation/cellular-phone-use-and-texting-while-driving-laws.aspx

 

City of Tempe has an ordinance regarding distracted driving. It does not ban texting while driving, but drivers can be fined if "if police catch them swerving within their lane or displaying other types of erratic driving with a phone in their hand". https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/tempe/2015/09/25/tempe-oks-toughest-texting-and-driving-law-arizona/72754156/

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The finding holds implications for traffic safety. Each dashed line measures 10 feet, and the empty spaces in-between measure 30 feet. So every time a car passes a new dashed line, the car has traveled 40 feet.

 

So looking at the video again you can see the ladies shoes at about 60-80 feet away. I think that at 38 MPH you would have some time to react some what. Opinions?

 

No way that's 60-80 feet. 40-50 at best. And about 1.5 seconds. IMO 90% of drivers would not have been able to avoid the collision even if they were paying attention.

 

Had the technology worked in either a driver or driverless vehicle at least the speed would have been greatly reduced. Everybody should agree on that.

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LOL

Texting while driving is illegal is it not?

 

 

 

I understand what you're saying about a person MAYBE being able to swerve if they were paying attention, but that's a big Maybe given how quickly the person came into view. It's not like she was 50 yards away.

 

Even glancing down at the speedometer or at the radio display for a split second would be enough to miss her in front of the car until it was too late.

 

We teach 5 year olds to look before crossing the street and there is no way to miss a SUV with headlights at 10 pm heading towards you.

 

There is only so much you can do to prevent people from doing stupid things and killing themselves.

 

^^^ This!

 

Regardless of the fault of the pedestrian, the technology failed completely. The Volvo didn't brake, didn't swerve, didn't react at all to the pedestrian - it just plowed right into her. And she didn't "step out in front of the car", she was already 1 1/2 lanes across the road when the Volvo struck her. The technology failed to recognize a pedestrian who was already well in the road before the arrival of the vehicle - she didn't "step out in front of the car". Thankfully we have the video that shows exactly where she was and how much progress she had made.

 

Yes, the technology failed, that I can agree with. I would think that the sensors should have 'seen' her and reacted, but they didn't for some reason.

 

OK, so she didn't 'step' out in front of the car, she walked out in front of it. Is there a difference? You can say she was 1.5 lanes across the road, but you are completely neglecting the fact that a car with headlights is much easier to see than a pedestrian in the dark of night.

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Bike also should have had proper reflectors in the wheels.

Also depended on the state and local laws Pedestrians can always have right of way. In Ann Arbor for instance you are required to stop for a pedestrian WHERE EVER they want to cross, cross walk or not. This is actually being debated currently. http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2017/09/debate_over_ann_arbors_crosswa_1.html

 

 

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