NTSB: Uber’s AV in fatal crash ‘had software issues’

The US National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that an Uber autonomous vehicle which killed Elaine Herzberg last year had software flaws. NTSB released a report which says the Volvo XC60’s autonomous system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object and determined that an emergency braking manoeuvre was needed to mitigate the collision. Uber confirmed that emergency braking manoeuvres must be carried out manually and the system is not designed to alert the driver. Data
November 6, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

The US 5628 National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has found that an 8336 Uber autonomous vehicle which %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external killed false https://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/uber-ends-self-driving-programme-in-arizona/ false false%> Elaine Herzberg last year had software flaws.

NTSB released a %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external report false https://dms.ntsb.gov/pubdms/search/hitlist.cfm?docketID=62978&amp;CurrentPage=2&amp;EndRow=30&amp;StartRow=16&amp;order=1&amp;sort=0&amp;TXTSEARCHT= false false%> which says the 609 Volvo XC60’s autonomous system software classified the pedestrian as an unknown object and determined that an emergency braking manoeuvre was needed to mitigate the collision.

Uber confirmed that emergency braking manoeuvres must be carried out manually and the system is not designed to alert the driver.

Data retrieved from the autonomous system revealed that the vehicle operator engaged the steering wheel less than a second before impact while the vehicle was travelling at 39mph.

The NTSB reviewed Uber’s autonomous system cameras which revealed that Herzberg did not look in the direction of the vehicle just before impact.

An inward-facing video showed the vehicle operator glancing down toward the centre of the vehicle several times before the crash. A post-crash interview with NTSB investigators revealed that she was monitoring the autonomous system’s interface.

The NTSB is working with Uber, Volvo Cars and the 6576 Arizona Department of Transportation to compile a complete account of the crash.

Uber is not the only company whose AV trials have led to a fatality. Last year, a Tesla vehicle operating in %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 link-external autopilot false https://www.itsinternational.com/categories/utc/news/tesla-car-crash-in-california-kills-driver-while-running-on-autopilot/ false false%> in California caught fire after crashing into a roadside barrier that killed the driver. 

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Registration now open for 2015 Polis Conference
    June 30, 2015
    Polis has just released the draft programme for its 2015 Annual Polis Conference, ‘Innovation in transport for sustainable cities and regions’. Technical sessions cover topics such as: transport planning beyond the city, ICT and active mobility, smart parking strategies, urban freight goes electric, translating road safety data into measures, global cooperation for sustainable transport, from open data to transport apps, and more. Early bird rates apply until 30 September 2015. More information is ava
    Read More
  • All-in-one mPOS solution
    November 20, 2013
    The new FDA600-POS rugged handheld PDA with integrated EFTPOS now also features fiscal memory and biometric signature capture and is a fully fledged mPOS solution which sits in the palm of the hand. Mobile operators can track deliveries by scanning and geotagging barcodes or RFID tags, capturing recipients’ biometric signatures, take photos, print receipts, and accept electronic Chip & Pin payments. Several built-in FDA600-POS options extend the scope of the potential applications to door-to-door sales,
    Read More
  • Telegra shows new TopXview ITS platform
    March 20, 2018
    Telegra is unveiling a new generation ITS technologies which are designed to be understandable, safe and future-proof. The company says its new products address two major trends: rapidly evolving technologies for information sourcing, analysis and processing, and to counter growing traffic problems which cost societies worldwide billions of dollars every year.
    Read More
  • AID teams up with Luminar for advanced LiDAR sensing technology
    December 21, 2018
    AID-Autonomous Intelligent Driving, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Audi, is partnering with Luminar Technologies to deploy LiDAR products. Launched in March last year, AID has an autonomous vehicle (AV) test fleet in Munich and bills itself as the ‘centre of excellence’ for urban autonomous driving in the Volkswagen Group. Luminar LiDARs will be installed on the roof of the AVs to give a 360-degree field of view. “Perception remains a bottleneck today for autonomous mobility and we quickly worked to
    Read More

Highlighted Content