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A24 TECHNOLOGY
Friday 16 November 2018
Electronic driving systems don't always work, tests show

By TOM KRISHER said researchers expected
AP Auto Writer the vehicles to see stopped
DETROIT (AP) — Testing by vehicles and react in time.
AAA shows that electronic Automakers generally say
driver assist systems on the that the systems are de-
road today may not keep signed to supplement a hu-
vehicles in their lanes or man driver and they make
spot stationary objects in it clear the vehicles don't
time to avoid a crash. drive themselves.
The tests brought a warn- Nissan said its system name
ing from the auto club that contains the word "assist,"
drivers shouldn't think that showing that it's designed
the systems make their to help the driver.
vehicles self-driving, and "Mercedes-Benz has al-
that they should always be ways stressed that this tech-
ready to take control. nology is designed to assist
AAA also said that use of the driver, not to encour-
the word "pilot" by auto- age customers to ignore
makers in naming their sys- In this March 23, 2018 file photo provided by KTVU, emergency personnel work a the scene their responsibilities as driv-
tems can make some own- where a Tesla electric SUV crashed into a barrier on U.S. Highway 101 in Mountain View, Calif. ers," the automaker said in
ers believe the vehicles Associated Press a statement.
can drive themselves. Board is investigating some tested included the 2018 four would have failed to Tesla says that it reminds
"These systems are made as of the crashes, including a Mercedes-Benz S Class, the avoid a crash when the drivers to keep their hands
an aid to driving, they are March fatality that involved 2018 Nissan Rogue, a 2017 vehicle ahead of them on the wheel. "Tesla has al-
not autonomous, despite a Model X that struck a Tesla Model S and a 2019 changed lanes and a simu- ways been clear that Au-
all of the hype around ve- freeway barrier near Moun- Volvo XC40. In addition to lated stopped vehicle was topilot doesn't make the
hicle autonomy," said Greg tain View, California. Tesla's Autopilot, Volvo calls ahead. car impervious to all acci-
Brannon, AAA's director of The AAA findings are the its system "Pilot Assist," while "As a result we had to take dents," the company said
automotive engineering. second tests showing that Nissan's is named "ProPilot evasive action," said Bran- in a statement earlier this
"Clearly having 'pilot' in the the systems can't handle Assist." non. year.
name may imply a level of every situation in real-world Automakers generally say Only the Tesla system A message was left Thurs-
unaided driving, which is driving, including some that they tell drivers that their brought the vehicle to a day seeking comment
not correct for the current are relatively common. In cars aren't fully self-driving complete stop in all five from Volvo.
state of the development August, the Insurance In- and that they should al- track test runs, but driver in- Brannon said that despite
of these systems." stitute for Highway Safety ways be alert and ready to tervention was needed for their shortcomings, the sys-
The test results released released tests that showed intervene. the others, the AAA report tems have great poten-
Thursday come after sev- similar problems to the AAA AAA says the vehicles said. tial to save lives and stop
eral highly publicized study.The auto club tested drifted out of lanes and The vehicles' owner's man- crashes from happening.
crashes involving Tesla ve- the systems on four vehicles hugged lane markers, uals say that spotting a sta- "Anything that can serve as
hicles that were operating that had adaptive cruise struggling with moder- tionary vehicle after a lead a backstop to a good driv-
on the company's system control, lane-keeping as- ate traffic, curved roads vehicle changes lanes is a er is going to enhance the
named "Autopilot." The Na- sist and automatic emer- and streets with busy in- design limitation for the sys- safety of the system, of the
tional Transportation Safety gency braking. Vehicles tersections. Three of the tems, Brannon said. But he driver," he said.q

Facebook says it's getting better at removing hate speech

By BARBARA ORTUTAY ence, hate speech and in- Facebook's strategy as "de-
AP Technology Writer citement to violence in the lay, deny and deflect."
NEW YORK (AP) — Face- U.S., Myanmar, India and Facebook said Thursday it
book said it's making prog- elsewhere. has cut times with a Wash-
ress on detecting hate The company also said it ington public relations firm,
speech, graphic violence disabled more than 1.5 bil- Definers, which the Times
and other violations of its lion fake accounts in the said Facebook hired to
rules, even before users see latest six-month period, discredit opponents. Face-
and report them. compared with 1.3 bil- book CEO Mark Zucker-
Facebook said that during lion during the previous six berg said during a call with
the April-to-September pe- months. Facebook said reporters that he learned
riod, it doubled the amount most of the fake accounts about the company's rela-
of hate speech it detected it found were financially tionship with Definers only
proactively, compared motivated, rather than when he read the Times
with the previous six months. aimed at misinformation. report.On community
The findings were spelled The company has nearly guidelines, Facebook also In this Jun 7, 2013, file photo, the Facebook "like" symbol is
out Thursday in Facebook's 2.3 billion users. released metrics on issues illuminated on a sign outside the company's headquarters in
second report on enforcing Facebook's report comes such as child nudity and Menlo Park, Calif.
community standards. The a day after The New York sexual exploitation, terrorist Associated Press
reports come as Facebook Times published an exten- propaganda, bullying and measure how prevalent of bullying in the July-Sep-
grapples with challenge af- sive report on how Face- spam. While it is publish- these things are on Face- tember period, this does
ter challenge, ranging from book deals with crisis af- ing how many violations it book overall. For instance, not mean there were only 2
fake news to Facebook's ter crisis over the past two is catching, the company while Facebook took ac- million instances of bullying
role in elections interfer- years. The Times described said it can't always reliably tion on 2 million instances during this time.q