Uber’s self-driving car has officially hit the streets in Pittsburgh, and a few select patrons have taken it for a spin. The idea was simple: Give the car a destination and let it take over. In practice, there were a few things which could have used some work.
First off, the option to take over the controls is still there, so Uber hasn’t given the self-driving car absolute control. They apparently know that without a human behind the wheel, it’s just a machine and incapable of subtle decisions. This particular choice could be a godsend when the holiday season hits, and everybody’s flooding the roads and driving like maniacs.
Signe Brewster of Tech Crunch , Andrew Hawkins of The Verge , and a few others were given the chance to see what it’s like to ride in a driverless taxi and give their first impression.
Both of the test subjects dealt with the need to take over control of the vehicle at one point due to one stopped in front of the Ford Focus. This was because the car wasn’t taking the initiative to go around on its own, or noticing a driver in the vehicle ahead of them signaling them to go by. With two engineers sitting in the front of the driverless taxi, there was a console in the back seat which allowed the passenger to literally be a back seat driver.
Uber starts self-driving car pickups in Pittsburgh https://t.co/1xjTbwi4qH
— Synergy Energy Ltd (@SynergyEnergyCo) September 14, 2016
Brewster said that the Uber self-driving car was sent into typical stop-and-go traffic, where it seemed to drive itself much like a human would, complete with lurching stops.
This was somewhat disconcerting for Hawkins, as he mentioned the fact that an SUV in front of the car had stopped suddenly.
“Time slowed down. My brain issued the signal to brake, but before my foot could respond, the car braked on its own. It was abrupt but gentle, the kind of stop that would have caused my wife to raise a disapproving eyebrow, but only slightly. There wasn’t enough time to be amazed.”
Hawkins added that for the moment, two Uber engineers will always accompany the self-driving car. It seems Uber knows that all machines and software will inevitably glitch, and when it comes to navigating roads in the real world, a glitch could lead to serious injury.
There was even an outcry on social media when it was revealed that in the case of an eventual collision, the car would have to choose to potentially kill the pedestrian or the passenger .
Uber’s engineers are taking notes as the test runs continue so they can tweak the software and fix the program or the car itself for greater safety. Some might argue that once the engineers no longer ride along, nothing will stop a passenger from simply taking over the wheel and speeding through traffic regardless of others’ safety just because they’re in a hurry.
???? WIRED goes for a test ride in Uber’s first automated taxi https://t.co/iaQQIQUxs0 https://t.co/riJv0FUpKr
— WIRED (@WIRED) September 14, 2016
Hawkins said that the car was not immune to the occasional glitch such as dropping out of autonomous mode unexpectedly and without reason. The engineers stated they would be going through the car’s data logs to discover the reason, as the ultimate goal is to make the Uber self-driving car capable of safely driving itself to each customer.
In the end, the goal of any car manufacturer is the safety of the general public. As the planned shift into driver-less cars slowly merges into the fast lane, Uber wants to ensure their self-driving cars won’t be more of a problem than they’re worth.
[Image via posteriori / Shutterstock.com]