Toyota followed in Uber’s footsteps Tuesday, pausing tests of its driverless car system “Chauffeur”.
The decision came even after authorities said Uber was “likely not at fault” for one of its autonomous vehicles striking and killing a pedestrian in Tempe, Ariz., on Sunday. Still, it’s a move one advocacy group exec likely agrees with.
“Is getting them out faster the best idea, or is getting them out right the best idea?” Center for Auto Safety executive director Jason Levine told Cheddar before the Toyota news broke.
Police investigating the Uber incident claim the car, in self-driving mode with a human behind the wheel, was travelling at 38 mph and made no attempt to brake when a woman walked onto the street.
But the pedestrian “came from the shadows right into the roadway,” according to Tempe’s Police Chief, making the accident difficult to avoid in any case.
It was the first known fatality caused by a self-driving car, prompting Uber to halt its own pilot programs and raising questions about the future of the nascent technology, with many calling for a slowdown in development.
“There should be some step between the computer lab, the completely controlled test track, and releasing them into the communities,” said Levine.
The pace of development in this space is moving at a speed that makes it hard to build regulations and safety procedures, he added.
“There, right now, are no regulations before putting these things on the road...there’s no pre-investigation or examination of whether the technology meets the same standards as a non-self-driving vehicle.”
Autonomous cars have been seen as the futuristic antidote to the tens of thousands of deaths caused by traffic accident deaths every year in the U.S. So far the technology’s track record suggests the error levels are far lower than in traditional autos.
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating the Uber incident.
Catching you up on what you need to know on April 15, 2022, with four of the victims from the Brooklyn subway shooting still hospitalized as the suspect is held without bail, Russia resumes attacks on Kyiv, teachers across the country receive their largest pay raises in decades, and more.
The major U.S. indexes closed Tuesday off of session lows as investors digest the latest read on inflation, showing it remains hot. Wall Street is also preparing for earnings from big banks and monitoring potential policy moves from the Federal Reserve. Peter Tuchman, a stock trader at TradeMas, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell and highlighted tech stocks in particular. 'The tech sector, which led us to record highs before the 1st of this year, are now the ones that are leading us lower,' he said.
Billionaire Elon Musk made waves after revealing he's making an attempt at a hostile takeover of the social media platform Twitter. The Tesla CEO is offering $43 billion to buy the social media platform outright with "freedom of speech" allegedly at the forefront of his agenda. Dan Ives, managing director of equity research at Wedbush Securities, is taking the tech entrepreneur seriously. "I think through many twists and turns over the coming months, he ultimately ends up owning Twitter because Twitter's board, their back is going to be against the wall," he said.
Ann Mukherjee, the chairman and CEO of Pernod Ricard North America, joined Cheddar News to talk about Absolut Vodka’s decade-long partnership with the music festival Coachella. Perno Ricard's vodka brand has built the virtual world Absolutland in the Decentraland metaverse for users to explore. "We actually have a vending machine where you can actually purchase the cocktails that will be delivered right to your home," she said. The brand will also be featuring festival headliner Swedish House Mafia.
A fertilizer shortage made worse from the Russia-Ukraine war is reigniting the conversation over sustainable agriculture. With the costs of fertilizer rising, weaning off of synthetic fertilizer may be a good option for farmers trying to keep costs low, while keeping crop margins high. But, Damian Mason, farm owner, agricultural economist and author of "Food Fear," says it's not that simple. Mason joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to explain the challenges of greener practices.
