Hacker News Reader

Comment by rboyd | Hacker News Reader

FTA "Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle outside the crosswalk".

The article says "as soon as she walked into the lane of traffic she was struck".

The police sergeant also "said he believed Herzberg may have been homeless".

These three things may together indicate that even a human driver might have struck and killed the lady if she entered into the roadway unsafely. I'm not sure how everyone (especially on Twitter) can be jumping all over Uber yet until the investigation is complete.

Sad of course, either way, but not yet enough evidence to assume that the algorithm+driver combo was any less safe than a human driver alone.

View on HN

Finding any tidbits on what actually did happen has been very difficult. I get that the investigation is of course ongoing, but that's what I want to know - did the tech actually make a mistake here?

And a mistake in a broader sense - was it an avoidable accident? If it wasn't this barely feels like news, other than as a milestone.

Also... I don't see how her being homeless has anything to do with it.

> Also... I don't see how her being homeless has anything to do with it.

well, higher than average rates of substance abuse in the homeless population. other than that I'm not sure how it could be relevant or why the article mentioned it. we wouldn't know without an autopsy but being drunk could explain walking out into traffic.

Homeless people tend to be in poor mental health and possibly under the influence of drugs/alcohol. All 3 of these things can contribute to bad judgement when she got hit.

It's unfortunate that this happened. But we do need take into context the situation and all factors involved.

Also... I don't see how her being homeless has anything to do with it.

I can think of a number of ways it may be relevant. In addition to what I said in this discussion, I left a comment about that here:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16625242

The article says she died from her injuries some time later. So, she didn't die instantly on impact.

I know more than average about homelessness. A high percentage of homeless people have serious health problems. If she was homeless, she may have already been in very poor health. That may have contributed to her death.

I can think of potentially other contributing factors, but I am leery of coming across like I am badmouthing homeless people. They are subjected to enough hostility and prejudice and I am usually trying to advocate on their behalf.

Anecdote: About a year ago when I was driving at night I almost hit someone, apparently homeless with dark-colored clothes, pushing a covered shopping cart across a 5-lane street with no crosswalk. Fortunately I was in one of the middle lanes so I noticed them and slammed the brakes in time (while risking getting myself rear-ended).

Exactly. Given the information available at this point, the headline and most of the article is pure sensationalism. It could equally easily have been spun as "Homeless lady walks in front of car" but that won't get the clicks.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com