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Jesus, the language they use. Jaywalkers are people. Uber's self-driving car wasn't programmed to not hit people. The fact that the person was in front of the

Jesus, the language they use. Jaywalkers are people. Uber's self-driving car wasn't programmed to not hit people. The fact that the person was in front of the machine at a part of the road that the machine didn't know to be a pedestrian crossing is irrelevant here. FWIW, that person could've been a construction worker, and would've been hit by Uber just the same. Human drivers aren't taught to look out for people only at pedestrian intersections. Those are the places where drivers have to be extra cautious because the people are more likely to cross the road there. But people (and animals, and other drivers) could be anywhere on the road. Imagine this thinking applied to other machinery: "I'm sorry, we only made a machine that doesn't kill people wearing blue pants. That person wore a skirt, so our machine was rightfully confused. We've made many improvements since". "Jaywalker" is a word that was invented to shift the responsibility to victims of car accidents, and it's still being used that way. It's a deliberate usage of language to spin a narrative.

matz1 7y ago
Jaywalker is the correct term. People who cross at the inappropriate crossing point.
- braythwayt 7y ago
  Mind your words. “Jaywalking” is not illegal or wrong or even inappropriate in most jurisdictions. Here in Ontario, it is only illegal if you are crossing the street near an intersection and deliberately trying to circumvent a light or other control on pedestrian crossing. Crossing anywhee else is perfectly legal, and it’s a driver’s responsibility to avoid pedestrians doing perfectly normal things like crossing the fucking street. Nothing inappropriate about crossing the street. What’s inappropriate is trying to blame the victim and make everyone in the world adjust their behaviour to coddle a few crooks trying to pump and dump the shares of their company that doesn't have a viable business model. What’s inappropriate is deciding to cut costs by only putting one human in the test car, so they are responsible for monitoring the vehicle and safety, instead of splitting the job between two or more people, which is standard in the industry for test vehicles. Jaywalker is not the correct term.
  - matz1 7y ago
    >Mind your words. “Jaywalking” is not illegal or wrong or even inappropriate in most jurisdictions Then it should be. It is also a pedestrians responsibility to avoid cars doing perfectly normal thing like using the road. Likewise its inappropriate to blame the car driver and make everyone in the world adjust their behavior.
    - braythwayt 7y ago
      I’m blaming the company. The list of ways they made this happen is a kilometre long. Are you ignoring all that or unaware of it? Are you here to be provide the opinion that pedestrians need to dodge companies doing their alpha testing on public streets? And why the fuck should jaywalking be illegal? I’m sitting in my car. You’re on foot. Why should I have some almighty right to drive around without looking for you? Streets are for all citizens, and crossing streets should be safe for everyone, even distracted pedestrians. It’s 2019. Crossing the street should not be a life-or-death proposition. It’s ridiculous that capitalism gives us battery powered scooters to rent by the trip, and rockets that can land themselves on a barge, but somehow the idea that we can make streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians is too difficult or ideologically impossible. Well, if you look outside of America, you can see that other countries get this right.
      - matz1 7y ago
        >And why the fuck should jaywalking be illegal Because it can endanger the car driver too. Yes streets is for all citizen, including for car driver. Yes thats why designated crossing place is made, to make it safer for the pedestrians. >Well, if you look outside of America, you can see that other countries get this right Sure, from your perspective. But from mine, America is the right one. Even in America sadly they don't enforce it as much as I like.
        romwell 7y ago
        I sincerely wish you to lose your driver's license, if only for a brief period of time, so that you could appreciate just how much our infrastructure is unsuitable for pedestrians. We barely have sidewalks in most places. And you suggest outlawing "jaywalking"? And all of that is happening on taxpayers' dime. Don't get me wrong, I'm driving everywhere too - but I'm taking advantage of the infrastructure my non-driving friends have chipped in for (some of them - gasp - walk to work in SF!). Sorry, but your perspective is not American. Just entitled.
microtherion 7y ago
Furthermore, sometimes not even self driving car employees understand what is or is not a legal place for a pedestrian to cross a street, let alone their cars: https://twitter.com/zoox/status/1115622929192980480?s=21 https://twitter.com/zoox/status/1115622929192980480?s=21

matz1 7y ago

Jaywalker is the correct term. People who cross at the inappropriate crossing point.

braythwayt 7y ago
Mind your words. “Jaywalking” is not illegal or wrong or even inappropriate in most jurisdictions. Here in Ontario, it is only illegal if you are crossing the street near an intersection and deliberately trying to circumvent a light or other control on pedestrian crossing. Crossing anywhee else is perfectly legal, and it’s a driver’s responsibility to avoid pedestrians doing perfectly normal things like crossing the fucking street. Nothing inappropriate about crossing the street. What’s inappropriate is trying to blame the victim and make everyone in the world adjust their behaviour to coddle a few crooks trying to pump and dump the shares of their company that doesn't have a viable business model. What’s inappropriate is deciding to cut costs by only putting one human in the test car, so they are responsible for monitoring the vehicle and safety, instead of splitting the job between two or more people, which is standard in the industry for test vehicles. Jaywalker is not the correct term.
- matz1 7y ago
  >Mind your words. “Jaywalking” is not illegal or wrong or even inappropriate in most jurisdictions Then it should be. It is also a pedestrians responsibility to avoid cars doing perfectly normal thing like using the road. Likewise its inappropriate to blame the car driver and make everyone in the world adjust their behavior.
  - braythwayt 7y ago
    I’m blaming the company. The list of ways they made this happen is a kilometre long. Are you ignoring all that or unaware of it? Are you here to be provide the opinion that pedestrians need to dodge companies doing their alpha testing on public streets? And why the fuck should jaywalking be illegal? I’m sitting in my car. You’re on foot. Why should I have some almighty right to drive around without looking for you? Streets are for all citizens, and crossing streets should be safe for everyone, even distracted pedestrians. It’s 2019. Crossing the street should not be a life-or-death proposition. It’s ridiculous that capitalism gives us battery powered scooters to rent by the trip, and rockets that can land themselves on a barge, but somehow the idea that we can make streets safe for cyclists and pedestrians is too difficult or ideologically impossible. Well, if you look outside of America, you can see that other countries get this right.
    - matz1 7y ago
      >And why the fuck should jaywalking be illegal Because it can endanger the car driver too. Yes streets is for all citizen, including for car driver. Yes thats why designated crossing place is made, to make it safer for the pedestrians. >Well, if you look outside of America, you can see that other countries get this right Sure, from your perspective. But from mine, America is the right one. Even in America sadly they don't enforce it as much as I like.
      - romwell 7y ago
        I sincerely wish you to lose your driver's license, if only for a brief period of time, so that you could appreciate just how much our infrastructure is unsuitable for pedestrians. We barely have sidewalks in most places. And you suggest outlawing "jaywalking"? And all of that is happening on taxpayers' dime. Don't get me wrong, I'm driving everywhere too - but I'm taking advantage of the infrastructure my non-driving friends have chipped in for (some of them - gasp - walk to work in SF!). Sorry, but your perspective is not American. Just entitled.

microtherion 7y ago

Furthermore, sometimes not even self driving car employees understand what is or is not a legal place for a pedestrian to cross a street, let alone their cars: https://twitter.com/zoox/status/1115622929192980480?s=21 https://twitter.com/zoox/status/1115622929192980480?s=21