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Google Blames Human Drivers for Self-Driving Cars Accidents

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Google Blames Human Error for Self-Driving Car Accidents

Following the storm of coverage about their self-driving cars being involved in accidents Google has said human drivers are to blame

If you follow the tech industry closely then you’ve probably seen all the stories covering the accidents involving Google’s self-driving cars. Creating a media storm about how safe the cars really were that blew up faster than anyone could have predicted. Google has admitted that in the six years since starting the project their cars have been in 11 minor accidents; four of those have happened in the last 9 months. Now Google spokesman Chris Urmson has another key piece of information for the public about those accidents.

According to Urmson none of those accidents were caused by Google’s self-driving cars. In a blog post Urmson says that the self-driving cars have been sideswiped “a couple times”, rear ended seven times, and nailed by a car running through a stop sign. None of the accidents caused injuries and any other data is hard to come by. Minor accidents are usually not reported to the police giving the DMV no data to analyze.

That makes it that much more difficult for Google and car manufacturers to improve their self-driving car programs to lower the number of accidents. Despite that Urmson says “We have a detailed review process and try to learn something from each incident, even if it hasn’t been our fault,” Although much of that information isn’t made available to the public, the majority of what we know comes from an [highlight]AP report [/highlight]saying that two of the four recent accidents happened when the car was in self-driving mode.

The other two incidents happened while a person was driving, obviously putting the blame on human error instead of the program. If Google’s data is to be believed that should come as no surprise, since the company blames human error for all of the accidents. Citing that their fleet of 20 self-driving cars have sensors to help them detect and avoid obstacles like people or other cars. The cars also sport GPS tracking, radar, and software that recognizes and reacts to street signals and signs.

Using all of the data their self-driving cars have collected Google claims they’ve identified a number of dangerous human driver patterns. Programing their cars to react to things like lane drifting, people running red lights, and lane cutting. None of that means these vehicles are incapable of causing an accident. Self-driving cars may be safer than human drivers in many ways but we are a long ways from making them perfectly safe.

Just like most other people are here, Ryan is very passionate about gaming and technology. When he's not writing about video games, you'll likely find him talking about the latest gadgets.

Consoles

Download the Latest PS5 Firmware Now!

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Sony’s PS5 firmware update is everyone’s favorite news story. It’s been a while, but don’t get too excited—this is just a minor one. No biggie.

PS5 system software 23.01-07.40.00 does what? Latest firmware patch notes:

  • System software performance and stability increased.
  • We improved screen messaging and usability.

That’s it! Sony’s definition of “some screens” is unclear, but perhaps it improves communications. PS5 messages weren’t a problem, though. The update is barely over 1GB, so updating your console won’t take long.

Excited for this PS5 update?

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Gaming

Want Diablo 4 immortality? Hardcore Level 100 Before Most Others

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The devilish launch of Diablo 4 is days away (less for Ultimate Edition buyers). Blizzard has promised the ultimate reward for the first 1000 players to accomplish level 100 on Hardcore Mode: a statue of in-game antagonist Lillith.

Diablo 4’s Hardcore Mode is a character-creation-only difficulty adjuster. It automatically deletes characters when they die, making things infinitely harder regardless of World Tier. But 100? That’s several playthroughs on increasingly difficult World Tiers with new adversaries in harsher setups and about 150 hours of flawlessly rapid gameplay.

Honoring the dying.

Being remembered with those brave souls lost on the journey is the ultimate gamer boast. Do you dare?

 

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Consoles

Sony Expects 108 Million PS5 Sales This Generation

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After the COVID-19 supply collapse, Sony CEO Jim Ryan is optimistic about PS5 sales. The Sony executive anticipates the PS5, the best-selling console for months, will sell 108 million units.

That’s difficult stuff considering Sony needs to sell 70 million more PS5s. Since supply has increased, consoles are selling like hotcakes in major countries, suggesting the firm is above 40 million.

Ryan stated in a recent games business briefing webcast and Q&A (thanks, TweakTown):

“The 70 million, I think, is the existing PlayStation 4 user base, and while we would hope to convert a large number of those people, we will definitely target and definitely be successful in bringing large numbers of gamers who did not own a PlayStation 4, and in many instances, who have never owned a PlayStation at all.”

Mr. Ryan’s numbers—should we focus on the 108 part?

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