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The human driver is also at fault and maybe even more so than the company. Don't know what his instructions were, but probably the main reason to have him on th

The human driver is also at fault and maybe even more so than the company. Don't know what his instructions were, but probably the main reason to have him on the drivers seat was exactly to avoid this kind of situation. The guy should have been paying attention to the road, ready to take over, not staring at his phone completely oblivious of what was going on. This situation in a way is very similar to another story that was on HN yesterday about a guy who got "fired by a machine". We are putting a huge amount of trust on automatic systems, sometimes without a failsafe mechanism. This inevitably leads to bad consequences.

toss1 8y ago
Yes, and the individuals fail in that context (i.e., the driver is at fault), but the greater failure is the management decision to put the system in the wild and create serious risk other unuspecting and more importantly, un-consenting, people. Anything less is skapegoating and letting the managers get away with manslaughter (in this case). The whole lot needs to be prosecuted, not only the driver (who also should not get let off)
skywhopper 8y ago
The problem is that no human can actually be that attentive to such a system for hours on end day after day. Uber set an impossible task for these drivers. We shouldn't let them claim the existence of these drivers as legal protection from their own obvious negligence.
- dwild 8y ago
  > The problem is that no human can actually be that attentive to such a system for hours on end day after day. Uber set an impossible task for these drivers. We shouldn't let them claim the existence of these drivers as legal protection from their own obvious negligence. Did the driver got a driving license? What does that driving license tell him to do in a car? That is FAR more important than what you boss tell you, it's the freaking law. It's like saying if you kill someone in your car after a long day of work, you aren't responsible because your boss gave you an impossible task to drive your car after such long hour. You are still freaking responsible of your driving. Can't do it? Then don't do it, it's that simple. Put as much blame as you want on Uber, it doesn't change the fact that she drove that car and killed that person.
  - kickopotomus 8y ago
    I think you are missing the point a little as that is not an apt comparison. The "driver" was not operating the vehicle. They were tasked with monitoring it's function to step in and take control if something went wrong but humans are notoriously bad at this exact task. Now I definitely believe the person is culpable here but it's also murky based on how Uber instructed them to operate the vehicle and how much they said you can trust the autonomous driving features.

toss1 8y ago

Yes, and the individuals fail in that context (i.e., the driver is at fault), but the greater failure is the management decision to put the system in the wild and create serious risk other unuspecting and more importantly, un-consenting, people. Anything less is skapegoating and letting the managers get away with manslaughter (in this case). The whole lot needs to be prosecuted, not only the driver (who also should not get let off)

skywhopper 8y ago

The problem is that no human can actually be that attentive to such a system for hours on end day after day. Uber set an impossible task for these drivers. We shouldn't let them claim the existence of these drivers as legal protection from their own obvious negligence.

dwild 8y ago
> The problem is that no human can actually be that attentive to such a system for hours on end day after day. Uber set an impossible task for these drivers. We shouldn't let them claim the existence of these drivers as legal protection from their own obvious negligence. Did the driver got a driving license? What does that driving license tell him to do in a car? That is FAR more important than what you boss tell you, it's the freaking law. It's like saying if you kill someone in your car after a long day of work, you aren't responsible because your boss gave you an impossible task to drive your car after such long hour. You are still freaking responsible of your driving. Can't do it? Then don't do it, it's that simple. Put as much blame as you want on Uber, it doesn't change the fact that she drove that car and killed that person.
- kickopotomus 8y ago
  I think you are missing the point a little as that is not an apt comparison. The "driver" was not operating the vehicle. They were tasked with monitoring it's function to step in and take control if something went wrong but humans are notoriously bad at this exact task. Now I definitely believe the person is culpable here but it's also murky based on how Uber instructed them to operate the vehicle and how much they said you can trust the autonomous driving features.