A self-driving Uber killed a woman. The backup driver pleaded guilty
3 years probation for a set of actions that resulted in a loss of life.<p>I&#x27;m always aghast at this, we call things that happen on the road &quot;accidents&quot; as if it&#x27;s &quot;oops, I killed you, sorry&quot;. The language of reporting isn&#x27;t on the drivers &quot;car killed pedestrian&quot;, rather than &quot;driver killed pedestrian&quot;.<p>The deaths by vehicles is astonishing, last year in the USA 42,795 people died in road traffic incidents ( <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nhtsa.gov&#x2F;press-releases&#x2F;traffic-crash-death-estimates-2022" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.nhtsa.gov&#x2F;press-releases&#x2F;traffic-crash-death-est...</a> ), in the UK the number is 1,695 ( <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gov.uk&#x2F;government&#x2F;statistics&#x2F;reported-road-casualties-great-britain-provisional-results-2022&#x2F;reported-road-casualties-great-britain-provisional-results-2022" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.gov.uk&#x2F;government&#x2F;statistics&#x2F;reported-road-casua...</a> ).<p>In the USA alone, that&#x27;s 117 people per day.<p>Virtually no-one who owned the set of decisions that led to those deaths face any consequence of any kind... for ending someone&#x27;s life.<p>When the article says &quot;Getting behind the wheel of a car is a serious responsibility&quot;... there are no real consequences for the individuals involved for their choices, and choices should have consequences.<p>Driving too fast in rural areas, not paying attention, not keeping your car in good repair, being under the influence... these are all choices, and choices should have consequences.<p>The consequences should be significant enough that they disincentivise that behaviour in everyone else, which means never being able to drive again, jail time, significant and meaningful financial penalties (with a large portion paid to the victims family).<p>3y probation, as an outlier exceptional example of consequences, shows the priority is on vehicle use rather than people&#x27;s lives.