autonomous vehicles – The News Desk

GM’s Cruise Loses Its Self-Driving License in San Francisco After a Robotaxi Dragged a Person

24Oct

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Technology

GM’s Cruise Loses Its Self-Driving License in San Francisco After a Robotaxi Dragged a Person

California has suspended driverless vehicles operated by the General Motors subsidiary Cruise in the city of San Francisco—just two months after the state began allowing the robotaxis to pick up paying passengers around the clock. The suspension appears to stem primarily from a gruesome October 2 incident, in which a collision with a human-driven vehicle threw a female pedestrian into the path of a driverless Cruise car, which hit and then dragged her approximately 20 feet.The suspension marks a serious setback for the driverless vehicle industry, which has faced charges of under-regulation even as Cruise and others plan to expand to new cities across the US.In a statement, California’s Department of Motor Vehicles says it has determined that Cruise’s vehicles are “not safe for the public...

Teledriving Is a Sneaky Shortcut to Driverless Cars

18Oct

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Technology

Teledriving Is a Sneaky Shortcut to Driverless Cars

On the busy streets of suburban Berlin, just south of Tempelhofer Feld, a white Kia is skillfully navigating double-parked cars, roadworks, cyclists, and pedestrians. Dan, the driver, strikes up a conversation with his passengers, remarking on the changing traffic lights and the sound of an ambulance screaming past in the other direction. But Dan isn’t in the car.Instead, he’s half a mile away at the offices of German startup Vay. The company kits its cars out with radar, GPS, ultrasound, and an array of other sensors to allow drivers like Dan to control the vehicles remotely from a purpose-built station equipped with a driver’s seat, steering wheel, pedals, and three monitors providing visibility in front of the car and to its side.Vay’s approach, which it calls teledriving, is pitched a...

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom Vetoes State Ban on Driverless Trucks

23Sep

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Technology

California’s Governor Gavin Newsom Vetoes State Ban on Driverless Trucks

California governor Gavin Newsom worked late last night, vetoing a law that would have banned self-driving trucks without a human aboard from state roads until the early 2030s. State lawmakers had voted through the law with wide margins, backed by unions that argued autonomous trucks are a safety risk and threaten jobs.The bill would have seen California, which in 2012 became the first state to clear a regulatory path for autonomous vehicles, turn against self-driving technology just as driverless taxis are starting to serve the public. Autonomous truck developers now hope the freight-heavy state—home to two of the largest US ports—will one day become a critical link in an autonomous trucking network spanning the US.Companies developing the technology say it will save freight shippers mon...

Uber’s Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash Saga Ends With the Operator Avoiding Prison

28Jul

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Technology

Uber’s Fatal Self-Driving Car Crash Saga Ends With the Operator Avoiding Prison

While Vasquez and Uber may find some closure in the plea deal, self-driving expert Bryant Walker Smith says the NTSB should revisit the Slack issue to find the truth. “I don’t want the story of the first automated vehicle fatality to be a lie. Or be a matter of disputes,” says Walker Smith, a law professor at the University of Southern Carolina. “We should get answers.” Watching a show would suggest some culpability for Vasquez, he says; watching Slack raises questions about Uber’s policies and practices.The alleged problems with Uber’s self-driving car program were serious enough that a former operations manager of the self-driving-truck division, Robbie Miller, had written a whistleblower email to higher-ups in the days before the fatal Arizona crash, warning about the car division’s po...

Lotus Eletre 2023 Review: Prices, Specs, Pros and Cons

10Jul

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Technology

Lotus Eletre 2023 Review: Prices, Specs, Pros and Cons

What would Colin Chapman say? The late founder of Lotus was a restless innovator whose famous mantra was “Simplify, then add lightness.” Surely the new Eletre, a complex and heavy electric SUV, is the antithesis of everything Chapman stood for?Maybe, maybe not. For starters, Chapman was also a pragmatist. He introduced commercial sponsorship to F1 racing with the Gold Leaf Lotus 49 in 1968. And he sold the rights to his most enduring creation, the Lotus 7, to Caterham Cars in 1973. Before the Eletre, the carmaker’s range consisted solely of two-seat sports cars. Now it’s poised to become a volume-selling—and potentially very profitable—premium brand.While the 2,490-kg Eletre may lack a certain “lightness,” it is full of clever design features, including active aerodynamics, 5G-capable inf...