Uber is trialling its self-drive cars on public roads and has admitted the cars need to be reprogrammed with cyclists in mind.
Currently trialling its self-driving cars in controversial circumstances in the US, Uber has concede the vehicles are pose a “problem” for cyclists.
The cars are turning right too quickly and cutting directing across bike lanes in a manner than would pose a serious collision risk for cyclists going straight.
In San Francisco where the cars are being piloted, vehicles turning right on off roads with cycling lanes are required to stagger their movement.
They must first merge into the cycle lane and then once in the lane take their right turn. But the Uber cars are turning in one movement and cutting across the bike lanes.
Uber’s Chelsea Kohler told the Guardian newspaper in the UK that the company’s “engineers are continuing to work on the problem”.
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She added the company has instructed drivers to take control when approaching right turns on roads with bike lanes.
Uber has already angered the California regulators by persisting with trialling the self-drive cars around San Francisco.
The authorities have told Uber it needs a special permit, but the company has rejected that advice and continued with its trial.
However, the trial has become something of a public relations nightmare, with video emerging of the vehicles breaking red lights.
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The Uber cars do not seem to be merging into a cycle lane and then turning right. Instead, they are turning right from the vehicle lane and cutting across the bike lane; an illegal move in California.
The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition has raised concerns about the dangers it says the self-driving cars pose to cyclists. Its executive director Brian Wiedenmeier was present at a demonstration of the vehicle before the pilot on public roads was launched.
And he said he saw the cars turning right several times in a manner that would be catastrophic for cyclists.
“In the ride I took through the streets (last) Monday, the autonomous vehicle in “self-driving” mode as well as the one in front of it took an unsafe right-hook-style turn through a bike lane. Twice,” he wrote.
“This kind of turn… is known to be one of the primary causes of collisions between cars and people who bike resulting in serious injury or fatality.
“I told staff from Uber’s policy and engineering teams about the safety hazards of their autonomous vehicle technology.
“They told me they would work on it. Then, two days later, they unleashed that technology on San Francisco’s streets.
“Since yesterday, we have been told that safety drivers in these vehicles have been instructed to disengage from self-driving mode when approaching right turns on a street with a bike lane and that engineers are continuing to work on the problem.
“In the meantime, Uber is continuing to operate autonomous vehicles for passenger service in San Francisco.
“There’s no other way to put it: Launching autonomous vehicle technology before it’s regulated and safe for our streets is unacceptable.”
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