Uber's self-driving cars, not their drivers, ran red lights in San Francisco

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By Matthew Griffin Future Transport 28th February 2017

WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

The race to stay ahead can sometimes lead companies to do strange things but technology still has its limits

Last December, a self-driving Uber was caught on camera running a red light in San Francisco, shortly after the vehicles began testing on the roads – without the regulators approval. While Uber claimed at the time that a driver was at fault, a report from The New York Times has since claimed that the car, not in fact the driver, who Uber suspended, was in error.

The New York Times cites two company employees and internal company documents that reveal that the mapping programs guiding the vehicle in question failed to recognize six traffic lights, which allowed it to roll through a red light last December.

Shortly after the pilot project began in San Francisco California’s Department of Motor Vehicles revoked the registrations of the cars after Uber failed to apply for a permit and the company then moved operations to Arizona where they’ve now resumed service and are picking up passengers.

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Described by NASA as a "Walking Encyclopaedia of the Future" and one of the world’s most in demand keynote speakers Matthew Griffin, Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm, is a multi-award winning Futurist and strategic foresight expert, author, lecturer, mentor, podcast and YouTube host.

With a distinguished career running global business units at Atos, EMC, and IBM today Matthew helps leaders and titans of industry from all over the world explore the impact of the inter sections of technology, culture, and leadership, then helps them create high performance organisations that can continuously disrupt, outpace, and outthink their competition.

15 times author of the hit series the Codex of the Future series Matthew's ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of emerging technologies and trends on global business, culture, and society has earned him a powerful reputation and a roster of clients that include royal households, world leaders across the G7, G20, and G77, and many of the world's most recognised and exceptional organisations including ABB, Accenture, ABN Amro, Adidas, AON, ARM, BCG, Centrica, Citi Group, Coca Cola, Deloitte, Dentons, Disney, Dow, EY, Google, KPMG, Lego, Microsoft, Legal & General, LinkedIn, Nokia, Paramount, PepsiCo, PWC, Qualcomm, RWE, Samsung, T-Mobile, UBS, Visa, WIRED, WPP and hundreds of others.

Matthew is regularly featured in the global media including the AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, Forbes, Khaleej Times, Telegraph, TIME, ViacomCBS, WIRED, and the WSJ, and his mission is to help organisations create a fair and sustainable future whose benefits are shared by everyone irrespective of their ability, background, or circumstances.