Autopilot criticism may cause deaths: Musk

AP, DETROIT, Michigan

Self-driving cars hold the promise of saving thousands of lives each year on US roads, but does pointing out flaws with the technology effectively put people in danger?

That claim was put forth on Wednesday by Tesla Motors Inc chief executive officer Elon Musk, who criticized the media for harping on the relatively few crashes involving Tesla’s semi-autonomous driving system called Autopilot, while saying little about the about the 1.2 million people who die worldwide each year in human-driven vehicles.

“If, in writing some article that’s negative, you effectively dissuade people from using autonomous vehicles, you’re killing people,” said Musk, who expects his self-driving technology to be at least twice as safe as cars driven by humans.

The comments came as Musk announced that all new Tesla vehicles — including the lower-cost Model 3 — will have the hardware needed to drive themselves. The talk is bold, but experts say it is premature until self-driving cars prove they are better drivers than humans under any circumstances.

“Over time, after the technology has established itself, one would expect there would be a decrease in fatalities,” said Raj Rajkumar, a computer engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, who leads its autonomous vehicle research. “But this is too premature to make this claim. Tesla’s technology is known to be imperfect.”

In May, an Ohio man using Autopilot died when his Tesla Model S failed to spot a tractor-trailer crossing a divided highway. Neither the car nor the driver braked and the Model S crashed into the side of the trailer. US federal investigators are looking into Autopilot’s role in the crash.

Tesla’s Autopilot, introduced last year, can maintain a set speed and distance and keep the car in its lane, but the technology works mainly on highways and must be monitored by the driver. Autopilot will turn itself off if drivers have their hands off the wheel for too long.

Musk said Autopilot has already shown itself to be safer than humans.

He tweeted earlier this month that Tesla vehicles have been driven about 357 million kilometers in Autopilot mode, with one confirmed driver death. By comparison, the US fatality rate in 2014 was 2.16 deaths per 322 million kilometers traveled, according to US government data.

The new autonomous system has been in testing for more than a year, and Musk said it could cut worldwide deaths in half if all cars used it.

Rajkumar was skeptical and called the Tesla announcement “marketing hype.”

He said people should be skeptical of Tesla’s claims because of the Florida crash.

Self-driving technology “still needs to prove itself,” he said, adding that it has trouble operating in dense urban traffic and inclement weather.

Consumer Reports magazine is also concerned about semi-autonomous systems such as those that allow a car to steer itself. The magazine believes automakers like Tesla “should take stronger steps to ensure that vehicles with these systems are designed, deployed and marketed safely,” it said.

The new Tesla vehicles are to use Tesla-developed software and have more sensors. They will have eight cameras, compared with one in previous models, as well as advanced sonar and greater computing capacity.

Tesla said the system is fully autonomous and can work on city streets as well as highways. Buyers can pay US$3,000 for Autopilot or US$8,000 for the full self-driving system.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2016/10/22/2003657649


*Structure of the Lead：
WHO-Self-driving cars
WHEN-not given
WHAT- of saving thousands of lives each year on US roads
WHY-not given
WHERE-on US
HOW-not  given


 *Keywords：
1. harp：反覆訴說，嘮叨[（+on/upon）]
    SYN：elaborate, dwell on 
2. dissuade：勸（某人）勿做某事，勸阻[（+from）] 
    SYN：discourage,  deter, talk out of；ANT：persuade
3. bold：大膽的; 勇敢的
4. premature：過早的; 倉促的  
5. monitor：監控；監聽；監測；監視 

 

Taiwan heats up climate change conference

Despite being banned from direct participation at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris, NGOs from Taiwan have made their voices heard

By Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter in Paris

Taiwan’s government representatives may not have been allowed to participate in the negotiation process at the Paris Climate Change Conference, but civic society organizations made their presence felt.

A number of committed climate activists from Taiwan, along with environmental groups and researchers, represented the nation at the 21st UN Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP 21), which took place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11.

Because Taiwan is not a member of the UN, activists had to use other means to garner international support in order to gain entrance.

“We represent young people in Taiwan who are concerned about global warming and its effects,” said William Cheng (程泫尹) who spoke on behalf of an environmental organization from Canada.

Cheng’s organization is classified as part of the “Youngo” (Young People’s Organizations) — non-state entities given observer status.

Other non-state entity groupings include “Engo” (Environmental Organizations), “Tungo” (Trade Union Organizations) and“IPO” (Indigenous Peoples Organizations), among others.

Lindsey Wu, an environmental activist from Taiwan, who fell under the “Engo” category, has participated in climate change meetings in the past.

“It has been very difficult for someone from Taiwan to attend these UN climate forums because the Taiwanese government is excluded from the process, and this also precludes effective participation by us NGOs,” she said.

Wu added that at times, it was frustrating to see many small Third World nations entering COP 21 venues and engaging in climate negotiation.

“It’s like the world has invited everyone to a big party, but when mentioning that we are from Taiwan, the door is slammed shut to keep us out in the cold.”

Wu believes Taiwan should forge stronger bonds with its Pacific allies such as Kiribati, the Marshall Islands and the Solomon Islands — all who were well-represented at the COP meetings.

Ghazali Ohorella, an executive of Pacific Island Youth Network, said: “Taiwan is part of the global community, and they are suffering from the effects of global warming, just like other nations; Taiwan and its NGO representatives should be allowed to participate as an equal member in the COP 21 process.”

Instead, Taiwan’s government was only allowed to send a delegation of 50 people headed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to Paris. However, they tried to make the most out of the circumstances. On Dec. 10, a press conference was held at the Representative Office of Taiwan to discuss future goals such as gaining observer status at upcoming COP 21 events.

In addition, the government delegation has co-sponsored programs and seminar talks at venues of the official COP 21 site.

While smaller NGOs fought tooth and nail to participate at COP 21, larger organizations, by contrast, filled up most of the booths at COP 21’s NGO halls; they included the Tzu Chi Foundation, the Tang Prize Foundation and Delta Electronics Inc.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2015/12/20/2003635208


*Structure of the Lead：
WHO-Taiwan’s government representatives
WHEN-not given
WHAT-may not have been allowed to participate in the negotiation process at the Paris Climate Change Conference
WHY-not given
WHERE-at the Paris Climate Change Conference
HOW-not  given

*Keywords：
1. garner：收集; 獲得; 得到
2. in order to：為了…
    SYN：so as to
3. on behalf of：代表, 為了...的利益
    SYN：on...behalf, in behalf of, in...behalf, in the name of 
4. classify： 將……分類；將……分等級
    SYN： organize, group, categorize, sort
5. entity ：實體
    SYN：organization, institution, establishment, body