by Abi Silver
62
JUAN MET CONSTANCE in the foyer of SEDA’s offices an hour later, and he led her to the technicians’ lab. He had pumped her hand energetically when they met and she found she had to run to keep up with him as he strode out along the corridor. She watched him key in a long code on the keypad and swipe his security pass up and then down before the door opened to allow them access to the lab.
‘Now,’ he said, sitting down at his desk and politely ignoring her breathlessness, ‘I got a call. Is everything going OK at the trial?’
‘As well as we could expect, for now.’
‘What’s so urgent then? They said I needed to go to court. Anything to help James.’
Constance was about to launch into her prepared questions about the EDR and the extraction of the data, when she noticed the monitor behind Juan, with lines criss-crossing the screen in a myriad of colours, and rectangular boxes moving horizontally and vertically across the display.
‘What’s that?’ she asked.
Juan turned around.
‘Aha,’ he said. ‘That is how an autonomous vehicle sees the world.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes. It’s the combination of laser and radar signals and the mapping system which has been programmed in. Look.’
As Constance watched he switched on a second screen. Now Constance could see the digital display alongside a view of a road. ‘That’s incredible,’ she said. ‘So real life is turned into all those boxes. Is this what you do all day?’
‘Part of it. We get live feed from our vehicles, we record it, analyse it and we check it for any problems. I think all manufacturers have these kind of programmes now.’
‘So, each box is, what, a car?’
‘A car, a person, a cyclist, a lorry, a tree.’
‘And when you say “it’s how the vehicle sees the world”, it doesn’t have eyes, like a human?’
‘No. This comes from the LIDAR, the laser and radar sending out signals in all directions.’
‘Then this turquoise box here…’ Constance pointed to a rectangle in the middle of the screen, ‘…is this lorry here?’ She moved her finger across to the corresponding point on the next screen.
‘Yes. But what is amazing is that the laser and radar pick up obstacles much earlier than they come into view for a human driver. The green square is the car I’m tracking. It will be aware of your lorry, well before the driver sees it. That’s why this is the way of the future.’
Constance realised how close to Juan she was sitting and shuffled back in her chair.
‘Can you connect to James’ car too, like this?’
‘All our test vehicles can be connected, if the engine is running.’
‘And you’re sitting here all day, watching to see what they all do?’ she said.
‘Yes. I’m watching, but not all day. I have other things I’m working on too. Was that what you wanted to ask?’
‘No. I need to ask you a few questions about the EDR from James’ car. And then we’d better head off to court. They’ve put you in, provisionally, at 4pm.’
63
‘MR ABRAMS, we are nearly finished now, you’ll be pleased to hear,’ Judith resumed her questions in the afternoon, hoping that Constance would bring something back from Juan which she could use.
‘Are there laws about tampering with the software on these cars?’ she began.
‘Yes. Well, there will be in the new government Bill.’
‘What about updating the software?’
‘The technology is moving on very quickly, so there will be an obligation on every autonomous car owner to install updates.’
‘And how do they do that?’
‘The manufacturer sends the updates regularly and the owner has to accept them. All very straightforward.’
‘Perhaps not if you’re blind or disabled or old, as some of the users of these vehicles will be.’
Judge Wilson frowned, and scribbled a note in the margin of his papers.
‘When you talk about fault in your report, what do you mean?’ Judith continued, on a new topic.
‘I mean the person responsible for something having taken place.’
‘Precisely. You say, your honour, this is page 16. “Clearly, as Mr Salisbury was ordered to take control at a distance of 150 metres from the collision site, and did indeed take control, as indicated by pressure on the steering wheel at around 70 metres or four and a half seconds before the collision site, it was his fault that the car then collided with the family.” So, in your report, you are saying this is his responsibility and his alone?’
‘I am.’
‘But, if you cast your mind back, it was this morning, but I reminded you then, how long an ordinary person, like Mr Salisbury, would normally take to even begin to tune in – most likely five seconds but possibly even seven seconds – do you remember that?’
‘Yes, I do.’
‘And yet you stand here now, hand on heart, before his honour, the jury, the public, the media. You stand here and tell us that, in your expert opinion, the accident was all Mr Salisbury’s fault?’
‘Well, I…’
‘Are you certain, beyond reasonable doubt, that you would have been able to stop that car safely, without injury, in four and a half seconds, if you had been sitting at the wheel, in the same conditions?’
‘No, I…’
‘You’re not certain?’
‘Ms Burton. Your passion is commendable but do not badger the witness. It is not helping your cause,’ Judge Wilson intervened laconically.
‘Mr Abrams. Please take your time. Do I need to repeat the question?’
‘No,’ he replied curtly. ‘I remember the question. I believe I would have taken control in sufficient time to avoid the accident, but I accept on reflection that, perhaps, it is an overestimation to characterise this accident as wholly Mr Salisbury’s fault.’
‘Because?’ Judith held her breath and her tongue.
‘Because I accept that he may have been disorientated, not completely focused, when a complex road situation required negotiation very quickly.’
‘Thank you. Mr Abrams, do you know how often the average person blinks?’
‘No, I don’t.’
‘Every four and a half seconds. You are asking this court to accept that Mr Salisbury drove dangerously because he could not do all those things, look up, take in and understand a complicated road scene unfolding at speed before him, take the wheel, brake and steer away from a moving hazard, all in the blink of an eye.’
Mr Abrams, in one last passively defiant move, stared at Judith without blinking.
‘Thank you. No further questions.’
***
‘Are you really going to press for the trial to be abandoned?’ Constance was rehydrating with her second bottle of aloe vera water, having raced back to court to update Judith.
‘No. Not now, when I have five good explanations for why James’ car could have got things so badly wrong. Not unless Herrera confesses to changing the data.’
‘Take it from me, he won’t,’ Constance chipped in.
‘Not unexpected. I thought it was definitely worth dipping my toe in with Wilson, but he was clear that he’s not having it. The jury will remember though, and store it away. And far better to look like we’re confident that there are so many other reasons why James is not guilty that we don’t care too much about this one.’
‘Are you sure? I mean, we could finish it all now?’
‘Trust me. Wilson doesn’t like it. And this is a huge case. If it ends up being thrown out because the Department of Transport allowed the EDR to be reviewed unsupervised, after making a court application based on public interest, well, you can imagine the repercussions.’
‘It’s worse than that, actually.’
&nbs
p; ‘What? How worse?’
Constance finished her drink and tossed it into the bin in the corner.
‘The EDR had been removed even before the Ministry’s court application. I checked with James just now. It had already gone when I visited the car in the lock-up. I took photos and it’s clearly not there.’
‘Ah well. Overzealous police officers maybe. Or more time to do a switch. It could be something.’ Judith watched Constance out of the corner of her eye. ‘Maybe I can make mileage from it in closing,’ she said. ‘But that’s challenging the police again, and we saw what happened last time I hinted that our boys in blue may not be perfect.’
Constance looked away.
‘I don’t want you to think I don’t value your efforts, Connie, I really do.’
‘It’s OK. I understand.’
‘I just don’t want to go for the no trial and lose. It makes us look desperate. What did you make of Herrera?’
‘Clever, charming, knows his stuff. Wants to help James. And adamant that he did nothing wrong.’
‘OK. Anything else useful?’
‘Lots of other stuff but not useful for today. He showed me this elaborate digital programme they have, which turns a road scene into lines and shows what SEDA cars can see when they’re driving. Very futuristic.’
‘Hm. Sounds like you’re quite taken with him. One other thing, I forgot to mention. There’s a chap hanging around the back of the public gallery. He is something to do with the Department of Transport. Martine says his name is Peter Mears. Can you find out a bit about him too, after court, that is? Ask Toby to start with.’
‘Will do. Any particular focus?’
‘Yes. Ask him about Cinderella.’
64
THE PROSECUTION’S next witness was Dr Novis, a Home Office pathologist. His testimony encompassed the injuries suffered by each of the children, and confirmed they had been in good health prior to the accident. Bertie had died from compression injuries; his vital organs had been crushed under the wheels of the car. Georgia’s skull had smashed on impact with the tarmac. Mrs Layton’s injuries were minor by comparison, but, even so, her shattered pelvis had required complex surgery. She was still in pain when walking and was undergoing intensive physiotherapy.
SEDA’s dark-haired Mexican technician took the stand late afternoon, in an open-necked shirt and chinos.
‘Mr Herrera. Your full name is Juan Carlos Herrera?’
‘Yes, but my friends call me Juan. Well most of them call me “Wan” like I’m from China. But I don’t mind.’ He smiled at Celia, but she was in no mood for friendliness at this advanced stage of the day.
‘You are the senior technician at SEDA?’ Celia continued.
‘Yes.’
‘How many years have you been there?’
‘I only started last June.’
‘And what does your role entail?’
‘It’s a really broad role, as SEDA is such a small company. I am working as a software engineer, also configuring the networks which need to work together, and I have a project management role too, on more than one project.’
‘Were you approached by someone at the Department of Transport to assist with extracting data from Mr Salisbury’s car?’
‘Yes. A man called Peter Mears. He called me and said he had the EDR from Mr Salisbury’s car. He said it was password-protected and could I provide the password.’
Judith could sense Constance’s intake of breath at the mention, again, of Peter Mears’ name.
‘And did you?’ Judith said.
‘I can’t do that. I told him. But I said I could extract the data myself, download it to a laptop. I offered to do the diagnostics, but he said he had a man to do that, so I said I would put it all on a memory stick.’
‘Is that what you did?’
‘Yes. The EDR came over. It’s like a small metal box. I entered the password and extracted the data and when Mr Abrams arrived, I gave him the memory stick. I also returned the EDR.’
‘Thank you. That’s all clear. Please wait for Ms Burton to ask you some questions.’
‘Mr Herrera, do you like your job?’ Judith began quietly.
‘Yeah. It’s very interesting. I love it.’
‘And your wide-ranging role, does it involve ensuring these cars are safe on the roads?’
‘Yes. I monitor data which comes back from the cars, checking it looks good, nothing unusual.’
‘So if a car has a crash, would that, therefore, be your fault?’
‘It would be good if things were so simple,’ Juan said. ‘Well, maybe not for me. In the car, you have all the things you know about, that people understand, that you can see from the outside, like brake and accelerator pedal and lights and wheels. The things you can see and touch. Then you have things in the engine that you can see, if you look underneath the hood. But in these cars you also have a lot of sensors, to make sure the car doesn’t hit things, and they are all connected to each other and controlled by the central computer.’
‘But aren’t you responsible for making sure these sensors all work properly?’
‘We test them; that’s why we do all the test drives and we monitor the data that comes back. But we don’t create the programmes in the first place. It’s too expensive. We buy them in or licence them from the big guys. And no one person writes the code; Google may have hundreds of programmers working on writing the software. Sometimes they take code other people have written and they use bits of it and write over the rest. It might begin in a straightforward way that is easy for a human programmer to understand, but it has to end up in a form that a machine can read.’
‘I see. So if I asked you to identify who had programmed the software of the car involved in this accident, could you tell me?’
‘No. But I don’t understand why you would want to know this. With a regular car, you don’t want to know which person in the factory built it.’
‘But regular cars don’t make judgments about how to drive, Mr Herrera. These cars do.’
Juan stood before Judith, momentarily silenced.
‘I spoke yesterday and today to Mr Abrams, the forensic crash expert. You’ve met him?’ Judith said.
‘Yes. I gave him the memory stick.’
‘Why didn’t you wait for Mr Abrams to arrive before you downloaded the data?’
‘No one asked me. The EDR arrived. I picked it up from reception. I was in early and I had a lot of work to do.’
‘Did you look at the data yourself?’
‘Of course I did. I also wanted to know if anything had gone wrong.’
‘Was anyone else present when you were downloading the data?’
‘Look. I didn’t change anything. I didn’t go and hide anywhere. I sat at my desk. The other technicians come in and out. I downloaded it. I copied it to the memory stick. I looked at it. I had a chat to Mr Abrams when he arrived. He asked me a few questions. I told him I couldn’t see anything wrong, but he was the expert.’
‘Is it possible that the EDR you were given did not come from Mr Salisbury’s car?’
‘No. I checked the serial numbers.’
Judith swallowed her disappointment and moved swiftly on.
‘Is it possible the EDR was tampered with before you accessed it?’
‘These questions are intolerable,’ Celia’s pinched expression revealed her displeasure. ‘Now Ms Burton is accusing the police or the CPS of dishonesty.’
‘It’s possible,’ Juan said, ‘but they would need the password. And then they wouldn’t have needed me.’
‘Do you know who removed the EDR from the vehicle?’ Judith ignored Celia as the judge appeared content for her to continue.
‘No. I don’t know that.’
‘Mr Abrams told us yesterday that the data confirmed that the car failed to slo
w down when it passed a road sign, indicating that roadworks and a temporary traffic light were ahead. Instead, it appeared to ask Mr Salisbury to take control. The car then continued at its existing speed of 36mph. Can you explain why this might have happened?’
‘I can have ideas, but I can’t say for sure. The software running these cars is very complex. And it learns, just like humans.’
‘What do you mean “it learns”?’
‘It isn’t static. By being out on the road and interacting with people, with other road users, road hazards, new routes, it learns and improves its performance. The car which leaves the factory on day one, it comes back different. Just like a human. It looks the same from the outside, but it has learned new things from the experiences of the day, every day.’
‘So you are telling me that you are not able, even with the EDR or any other resources available to you, to pinpoint why the car failed to slow down?’
Judith held her breath. This was where she wanted Herrera to put flesh on the bones of Abrams’ evidence, to expound on the principles Greg had explained to Constance.
‘There was a lot of talk, I know, and it continues, about whether these systems should be transparent, so that you could look back at how “decisions” were made,’ Herrera explained. ‘But if you want a transparent system, one where you can see every single evaluation, then the system together, it won’t work very well. It must be better to have a brilliant system, which hardly ever goes wrong.’
‘But then, when it does go wrong, you can’t find out why?’
‘Usually the EDR will show something up or we’ll see, afterwards, that a component has obviously failed. If not, we can use our knowledge to say what we think happened. That’s what happens with humans trying to explain things, isn’t it? We don’t go inside someone’s brain. I’ll give you an example. You just asked me a question. Why did you use those exact words?’
Judith stared at Herrera before continuing.
‘I am used to asking the questions, Mr Herrera,’ she said. ‘But, to help with your illustration, I am using the words which come to me, which seem to be the most appropriate in all the circumstances, to achieve my objective.’