We know that Uber has been testing self-driving cars, although unfortunately earlier this year, one of the company’s self-driving cars was involved in a fatal accident. This eventually led to the company putting an end to their self-driving tests, and for a moment it seemed like they might have put it on the backburner.
However as it turns out, Uber is still very much interested in the tech because they have applied for permission for start testing its self-driving cars on public roads again. There will be various safeguards put into place, one of which involves using two test drivers in each vehicle to back each other up in the event of a possible accident.
There will also be a third-party firm who will monitor the drivers in real time, and will also set limits on the number of hours they can work per day, presumably hoping to remove fatigue as one of the reasons for inattentiveness. Uber also claims to have improved on its self-driving tech where it is apparently better at spotting objects and people sooner, and can also act more quickly.
Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has also written a post on Medium where he essentially tries to reassure that the company has taken all the necessary steps to prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
Filed in . Read more about Self-Driving Cars and Uber.