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More Self-Driving Car Safety Questions Arise; Consumer Groups Want Auto Braking Gear

January 14, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="copy-paste-block"> <p><span class="dateline">Los Angeles — </span>While self-driving cars already are being tested on public roads, newly released safety data support the cautionary view that the technology has many miles to go before people can sleep at the wheel. Meanwhile, three consumer groups on Wednesday petitioned the federal government to require a set of safety technology on autonomous cars.</p>

Self-Driving Cars Aren’t Ready Yet: Here’s How Often Human Drivers Need To Grab The Wheel

January 14, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>As automakers develop their self-driving car technologies, human test drivers still sometimes have to take the wheel.</p> <p>The California Department of Motor Vehicles released the first reports from seven automakers working on autonomous vehicle prototypes that describe the number of "disengagements" from self-driving mode from fall 2014 through November.</p> <p>This is defined by the DMV as when a "failure of the autonomous technology is detected" or when the human driver needs to take manual control for safety reasons.</p>

Why Self-Driving Cars Are Still Being Driven By Humans

January 14, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>The California DMV released reports from seven carmakers on Tuesday on how often a human driver had to take control.</b></p> <p>Self-driving cars, heralded as the wave of the future by carmakers and technology companies, are making progress, with seven companies currently testing the cars on public roads in a range of road conditions in California.</p>

New Auto Safety Standards Are Coming, And They Might Be Voluntary

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is poised to announce new auto safety guidelines -- and it had better be prepared for a fight.</p> <p>The federal agency has reached an agreement with several manufacturers, say sources not authorized to speak publicly on the topic, and could announce new safety standards as early as Thursday or Friday.</p> <p>Though NHTSA declined to comment, the sources say the new guidelines specifically address safety features like automatic emergency braking that are designed to assist drivers in avoiding collisions.</p>

Vital Safety Technologies Should Be Standard On All Cars, Advocates Argue

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>Rear-end collisions are the curse of the motoring classes. They become more common as traffic congestion increases and as electronic gadgets distract drivers from the task at hand.</p> <p>But just as technology contributes to the problem, it can also help solve it. Through advanced collision avoidance technology, that's increasingly available as an option on lower-priced cars and as standard equipment on luxury models, consumers may be able to avoid extra trips to the auto shop.</p>

Tests Show Self-Driving Cars Still Need Help; Consumer Group Wants More Info

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="copy-paste-block"> <p><span class="dateline">Los Angeles — </span>Futuristic self-driving cars traveling along California roads have needed plenty of old-fashioned human intervention to stay safe. And a consumer group wants more information about what's happening.</p> <p>California's Department of Motor Vehicles on Tuesday released reports filed by seven companies the agency gave permission to test prototype vehicles in public. The documents summarized instances in which a human driver had to take over due to technology problems or other safety concerns.</p>

Google’s Self-Drive Cars Had To Be Stopped From Crashing

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p class="story-body__introduction">Google drivers had to intervene to stop its self-driving cars from crashing on California's roads 13 times between September 2014 and November 2015.</p> <p>The disclosure follows a local regulator's demand for the information.</p> <p>Six other car tech companies also <a class="story-body__link-external" href="https://www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/detail/vr/autonomous/disengagement_report">revealed data about autonomous-driving safety incidents</a> of their own.</p>

Self-Driving Cars Take Another Step Forward With Google Report

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>Data shows results of seven companies testing self-driving cars on the roads of California</strong></p> <p>The day when a car can be trusted to drive safely all by itself has moved another cautious step closer with the publication of a report on experiments by Google and others with self-driving cars.</p> <p>Data released by the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) measured the "disengagement" history of the vehicles being tested on its roads by seven companies. That is the number of times the driver had to take over the driving of the vehicle.</p>

Alphabet Inc.’s Google Reports 13 Near-Miss Incidents With Self-Driving Cars

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><b>Report filed to California outlines 272 occurrences over a 14-month period</b></p> <p>Autonomous cars tested by <a href="http://quotes.wsj.com/GOOGL">Alphabet</a><span class="company-name-type"> Inc.</span><a class="chiclet-wrapper" href="http://quotes.wsj.com/GOOGL"> </a>’s Google X division are getting better, but they still have to hand over control to human test engineers on rare occasions.</p>

Google Reveals Self-Driving Car Slip-Ups

January 13, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<div class="story" id="slcontent3_4_sleft_0_storyDiv"> <p><strong>SAN FRANCISCO:</strong> Google said that while its self-driving cars have safely driven more than a million miles, there have been times when humans have had to take over to avoid crashing. </p> <p>System “anomalies” caused drivers to take the wheel 272 times in California test cars in the 14 months leading up to December, Google said in a report to the California Department of Motor Vehicles. </p>

Google Car’s Computer Got Smarter In 2015

January 12, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p>SAN FRANCISCO – Google says the computer brain inside its self-driving car is getting smarter fast, with the number of times human test drivers had to take over for the autonomous vehicle decreasing sharply in recent months.</p>

Google Reports Self-Driving Car Mistakes: 272 Failures And 13 Near Misses

January 12, 2016  ·  Mark Reback

<p><strong>California regulators require self-driving car firms to report when humans had to take over from robot drivers for safety, though Google is giving only select data</strong></p> <p>“Release of the disengagement report was a positive step, but Google should also release any video it has of the disengagement incidents, as well as any technical data it collected.”</p>