sort of OT autonomous car fatality

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

what was the purpose of a vehicle occupant?

One would suppose:

1. to observe autonomous driving patterns and to learn>>>to the lab

2. intercede if necessary

Wouldn't an engineer or technician be indicated rather than a Felon behind the wheel?

A quick read shows that Uber autonomous driving machines have had a lot of accidents (Tempe and Pittsburgh). Who monitors these trials? Who tests the vehicle's AD systems and sensors routinely during these trials?

There's someone in the driver's seat because that seems to be the only requirement some freedom loving towns have put on these companies to allow them to test there. Otherwise, I highly suspect that, well, in this day and age of "regulation is bad", and, "free market good", there is no oversight. Now, if you have been following the sad tale of Uber as a company, and the sociopath who was its CEO, and still is its major shareholder, that does not bode well for the rest of us, especially cyclists.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

it's all about eliminating billions of truck and taxi driver jobs, and the trillions of dollars those jobs cost to the industry.

it's true.

we're in a desperate race to the bottom in a LOT of industries right now.

since i travel for work a bunch, i (obviously) need to get to the airport regularly. i used to use a car service - nice guy in a suit would come pick me up and drive me to airport. average $80 bucks a ride.

these days, i hit the uber or lyft button. average 18 - 22 bucks for the same ride.

better for me the customer, but that industry is getting bled dry. how the guy behind the wheel is making any real money driving me to the airport for 18 bucks is beyond me.

now we're about to cut the driver out of the loop entirely.

eliminating lower level jobs is not going to be good long term for civil unrest. people need to work. for the most part - people want to work and earn a living. i'm sure it wont be long before college kids cant find any work because robots flip hamburgers and deep fry potatoes.

i dont know what the answers are either, but the mounting problems are pretty clear.

[Mr. Pink]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

it's true.

we're in a desperate race to the bottom in a LOT of industries right now.

since i travel for work a bunch, i (obviously) need to get to the airport regularly. i used to use a car service - nice guy in a suit would come pick me up and drive me to airport. average $80 bucks a ride.

these days, i hit the uber or lyft button. average 18 - 22 bucks for the same ride.

better for me the customer, but that industry is getting bled dry. how the guy behind the wheel is making any real money driving me to the airport for 18 bucks is beyond me.

now we're about to cut the driver out of the loop entirely.

eliminating lower level jobs is not going to be good long term for civil unrest. people need to work. for the most part - people want to work and earn a living. i'm sure it wont be long before college kids cant find any work because robots flip hamburgers and deep fry potatoes.

i dont know what the answers are either, but the mounting problems are pretty clear.

Most people don't know, because the mass media and even financial news outlets don't cover it, is that Uber is bleeding billions of dollars, and that low pricing is a major reason. It's practically predatory, and the expectation was/still is that their business model will succeed in eliminating licensed taxi drivers first, and eventually, with this tech, eliminate drivers entirely. And, there are a lot of very wealthy venture investors who have taken that bet. I think we all know who wins in the end when that kind of money is involved, although it didn't turn out too well for Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, but, she can rest easy that she avoided jail time, which is a crime n itself.

Yes, truck driving is the last job a high school grad can do and live a middle class existence. We're talking millions of jobs, just poof. It's not going to be pretty when they're gone.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by Mr. Pink

Most people don't know, because the mass media and even financial news outlets don't cover it, is that Uber is bleeding billions of dollars, and that low pricing is a major reason. It's practically predatory, and the expectation was/still is that their business model will succeed in eliminating licensed taxi drivers first, and eventually, with this tech, eliminate drivers entirely. And, there are a lot of very wealthy venture investors who have taken that bet. I think we all know who wins in the end when that kind of money is involved, although it didn't turn out too well for Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes, but, she can rest easy that she avoided jail time, which is a crime n itself.

Yes, truck driving is the last job a high school grad can do and live a middle class existence. We're talking millions of jobs, just poof. It's not going to be pretty when they're gone.

how would you have likes to have bought a NYC taxi medallion in 2013-ish?

[ripvanrando]

I pay the old guy in a suit for my rides to the airport. I'll never take an Uber for many reasons. Getting into a motor vehicle is the riskiest thing I do in my life and I'm not trusting it to someone taking 18 bucks because something is seriously wrong with that inequality.

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

I pay the old guy in a suit for my rides to the airport. I'll never take an Uber for many reasons. Getting into a motor vehicle is the riskiest thing I do in my life and I'm not trusting it to someone taking 18 bucks because something is seriously wrong with that inequality.

on the flip side, and according to my experience - the amount of drunk driving that cheap, immediately available uber rides have eliminated - is really fantastic.

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

how would you have likes to have bought a NYC taxi medallion in 2013-ish?

The value of a taxi medallion is now $175,000.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.3888237

A Queens cabbie who drove a yellow taxi for three decades hanged himself in his garage after suffering massive financial woes in the era of Uber, officials and friends said Wednesday.

Nicanor Ochisor, 65, was found hanging from a wooden beam in his garage on 58th Road near 69th Lane in Maspeth Friday morning, police said.

Taxi advocates quickly blamed the Romanian immigrant’s suicide on the glut of drivers working for app-driven, for-hire companies like Uber and Lyft taking money from medallion drivers.

“He could no longer bear the strain of the impending loss of everything he had worked for in his life in America,” the Taxi Medallion Owner and Driver Association said in a statement.

The organization pointed out that in 2014, medallions were selling for more than $1 million. Now, the value has dropped to about $175,000.

The group said Ochisor is the fourth cab driver, and first medallion owner, to take his own life over the last few months...

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by Louis

So I wonder why the Uber video appears to show a very dark road.?

Different types of cameras?

Editing of one or both videos?

Different lighting?

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/03...nt-believe-it/

It's not surprising that the road was actually more brightly lit than the Uber video makes out. Think about it: the Uber car was going 38 miles per hour (61km/h), and people on pitch-black country roads drive faster than that all the time. That would be extremely reckless if—as the video implies—headlights can't illuminate the road two seconds ahead at that speed.

One comment: "I lived in Tempe. It's not such a dark stretch of road that you would've missed her stepping onto the road, if you paid attention. Not only that but video footage is kind of deceptive - it's a pretty wide piece of road. Not like one of those European streets where you truly can surprise a driver by stepping out of an alley or parked cars."

[AngryScientist]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

The value of a taxi medallion is now $175,000.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/...icle-1.3888237

that's really sad, and i can not even fathom the despair one would have after paying over 1M for something (that you cant live in) now worth so little.

[MattTuck]

Taxi medallions were kept purposely scarce by the taxi industry, to keep supply constrained and prices high. Now, Uber is subsidizing to keep prices artificially low in an attempt to gain market share, change ingrained behaviors and cripple the cab industry.

In either case, it is a market failure.

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

on the flip side, and according to my experience - the amount of drunk driving that cheap, immediately available uber rides have eliminated - is really fantastic.

NOT trying to argue, honest but.

It's a claim the company has made repeatedly. On its website it says cities with Uber have "fewer drunk drivers on the streets." It recently used the argument in a heated battle over background checks in Austin.

But a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology has found no noticeable impact on the number of drunk driving fatalities in cities where Uber runs.

http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/29/tech...ing/index.html

and

http://fortune.com/2017/04/13/uber-drunk-drivers/

[Bradford]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

that's really sad, and i can not even fathom the despair one would have after paying over 1M for something (that you cant live in) now worth so little.

I also travel a lot for business and have for 30 years. New York City cabs have always been awful and represent the worst transportation experience in the country. The value of a medallion has plummeted because they have been gouging customers for years with an inferior service at full price.

I usually rent a car when I travel, in large part because of some of the awful cab experiences I have had in New York and other big cities. However, the times I've take Uber have all been very nice experiences. Cost aside, which I'm indifferent to since I expense all my travel, Uber is a much better experience than big city Yellow Cabs.

The New York Cab industry had a predatory business model that lost in the marketplace as soon as someone figured out a way around their monopoly. I'm sure that there were some individual drivers with medallions, but my impression from talking to cabbies over the years is that most medallions were owned by companies and the drivers were not making a fortune. If that is the case, I'm actually pretty happy to see them get slaughtered.

[livingminimal]

Originally Posted by Bradford

I'm sure that there were some individual drivers with medallions, but my impression from talking to cabbies over the years is that most medallions were owned by companies and the drivers were not making a fortune. If that is the case, I'm actually pretty happy to see them get slaughtered.

I agree that if a company is exploiting the conditions and making things ****ty for their drivers, holding all the leverage of a medallion, etc, the ****ty experience will trickle down to the person using the service, and that sucks.

The problem (for me) is the second part of your statement; if were happy to see a piggish crappy exploitive industry with bad service be gutted, what happens when the replacement is basically the same thing (Uber as a company? no better) exploiting (The average Uber wage is pretty damn ****ty) people and providing highly-marginal service, with a series of news stories on ride sharing rapes, assaults, etc?

Both ****ty sides of the same parasitic, vulture capitalistic coin. Nationalize more transportation services, please.

[ripvanrando]

Originally Posted by fiamme red

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2018/03...nt-believe-it/

One comment: "I lived in Tempe. It's not such a dark stretch of road that you would've missed her stepping onto the road, if you paid attention. Not only that but video footage is kind of deceptive - it's a pretty wide piece of road. Not like one of those European streets where you truly can surprise a driver by stepping out of an alley or parked cars."

Thanks for that link. I found the Volvo lighting from the clip to be bizarre.....it made no sense......almost as much as that Uber speeding. 10% over the limit, why? Police report 40 mph, Uber says 38mph. 35 mph zone.

I was going to say the dashcam clip looked doctored but something is clearly wrong because my bike lights have 450 feet of throw and this dashcam makes it look like the bicycyist appeared out of nowhere that is not true although the Volvo light throw looks like 100-150 feet, this clearly can't be the case. Something does not add up.

[David Tollefson]

Why does the lighting in the videos even matter? Wasn't the car equipped with detection systems that don't rely on the visible light spectrum?