[SystemSafety] [External] NTSB report on Über fatal accident in Tempe

[Grazebrook, Alvery AN]

-----Original Message-----
...On Behalf Of Driscoll, Kevin R

I never have understood the autonomy community’s preoccupation with classification of potential collision objects.  Am I being naïve, or there are just (currently) two classes of objects:  those posing a collision hazard and those where “collision” is OK (generally things that have low enough mass that they can be windblown, such as snow* or plastic bags).  Eventually, autonomous systems will become smart enough to be able to tackle Trolley Car Dilemma decisions requiring sophisticated classification, but I think that’s a long, long, long way off.
[Grazebrook, Alvery AN] 
To be honest, I'd be happy that an autonomous car was able to clearly identify cases such as windblown / drifting snow, and refuse to drive autonomously in those conditions (or any other) where the autonomous function was likely to struggle. I appreciate there are parts of the world where this is going to undermine their market acceptance, and there's a chance that the vehicle will strand someone by being unable to complete a journey. 

It slightly bothers me that the debate around these vehicles doesn't say much about the "we aren't going there" part of the story. Clearly this is a limit that will vary as the systems mature. I guess implementing this will depend heavily on classification schemes. 

Cheers,
	Alvery

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