The Cinderella Plan

by Abi Silver

  ‘We’ve had a long day,’ she said to James, ‘all of us. We’ll email you over some areas where we would welcome your input overnight. Back here around 8.30 tomorrow would be good, if you can manage.’

  61

  JUDITH OPENED up her mail box around 6am, on arrival at Constance’s office, to find an email from James with a list entitled ‘Questions you could ask Mr Abrams about his report’. She beckoned Constance over.

  ‘Connie. Come and look.’

  Constance, bleary-eyed through lack of sleep, ran over.

  ‘Well done you!’ Judith said, as she hurriedly devoured its contents.

  ‘I thought I’d gone too far, calling him a coward,’ Constance said.

  ‘So did I, if I’m honest. I thought there was a good chance he might decide to plead guilty and we’d have the rest of the week off.’

  ‘I know it was risky. I was just suddenly really angry with him. It all came tumbling out.’

  ‘And now we have this. Not a magnum opus, but some extremely helpful pointers. I can use some of them this morning, I hope. And if I didn’t say yesterday, I liked your slipper analogy. I may use it myself.’

  Judith poured out her first coffee of the day. ‘You did well challenging James in that way,’ she repeated. ‘But you know what?’

  ‘Yes. I know. Don’t ever do it again. I won’t. I promise. If you forward the email on to me, I’ll get started on some of those leads.’

  ***

  ‘Mr Abrams. Good morning. Picking up on where we left off yesterday,’ Judith began the day loud and enthusiastic. ‘Are you aware of research carried out, at the government’s request, over the last five years or so, regarding the interface between autonomous and manual mode in these level three vehicles?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you summarise that research and what it established?’

  ‘It was inconclusive.’

  ‘Let’s take a look, as I think you will find there were some conclusions. The paper is entitled “Re-establishing control” and dated 2nd February 2017. It summarises its conclusions as follows: “Tests showed that most drivers took longer than was predicted, when instructed to re-take control of an autonomous vehicle without prior warning. The average driver took around five seconds to tune in and focus on all aspects of the driving process and while around 20% of drivers were able to manage the transition more quickly than this, a large minority took significantly longer. Around 3% of drivers tested took more than 20 seconds to readjust.” Are you familiar with these conclusions?’

  ‘I don’t remember them, word for word, but, in general terms, yes.’

  ‘So you are aware that the government recently acknowledged that it took the average driver around five seconds to, let’s say, marshal his or her thoughts and become a real driver again?’

  ‘Yes I am.’

  ‘Can you explain why the figures came back like this?’

  ‘I suppose the people were relaxed, so it took them time to jump into action.’

  ‘They were relaxed; you mean, they were not expecting to be, literally, in the driving seat?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And the people who were used in the research, were they special in any way?’

  ‘No. I don’t believe so.’

  ‘They were not particularly skilled at driving, had taken more advanced driving tests.’

  ‘No. They were ordinary people.’

  ‘Ordinary people, like James Salisbury.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘So why are you judging James Salisbury to a much higher standard than those other ordinary people?’

  ‘I…I don’t think I am.’

  ‘If VERA, the voice activated software, had invited him to take control at that point in the road you have indicated, he would have had, how long before impact?’

  ‘At 150 metres it’s around nine seconds, but he actually took control at seventy metres, more like four and a half seconds.’

  ‘And you based that on…?’

  ‘Time equals distance over speed. At 36mph the car is travelling at around sixteen metres every second and the traffic light was seventy metres before the collision site.’

  ‘And what precisely would Mr Salisbury have had to do, in those four and a half seconds, to regain control?’

  ‘He would have pressed the manual button, taken the steering wheel in his hands, looked through the windscreen to assess the situation, put his foot on the brake and steered away from the family.’

  ‘What’s the stopping distance at 36mph? It’s a while since I studied my highway code.’

  ‘Around thirty metres. It’s, say, ten metres of thinking time and the rest is the braking mechanism itself.’

  ‘So unless my client was fully in control of that vehicle, pushing out of his mind all his work thoughts or personal thoughts, what information he required for his next meeting – all of which he was perfectly entitled to do while being chauffeur-driven in style – more than thirty metres or two seconds before the crossing, he was doomed to hit the family?’

  ‘No. He might still have steered away from them. But he could only have stopped the car before reaching them, if he applied the brake more than thirty metres away.’

  ‘Yes, thank you. I see that. But in order to come to a standstill before hitting the family, Mr Salisbury would have had to tune in all those things we just talked about and had his foot firmly down on the brake in two and a half seconds after taking control.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘When the average person only does this within five seconds. Do you see my point?’

  ‘Yes.’ Mr Abrams fiddled with the button on his jacket and glanced over at Celia. The left side of his face contracted again, briefly, just as on his arrival the previous day.

  ‘Are you aware of research written up by a distinguished Professor Stein, entitled “The problems of transition: driverless cars,” published last year?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And what does he conclude on this particular issue?’

  ‘He concludes that the time taken to regain control is a problematic aspect of vehicles which can operate in both modes. He recommends that we drive either/or.’

  ‘Either/or?’

  ‘Yes. Either drive manually, where the driver knows throughout the journey that he is in control and remains alert or in autonomous mode, where the car is in control, but not both.’

  ‘And why has everyone ignored Professor Stein?’

  ‘I’m not sure they have.’

  ‘All right. Why are the cars being trialled in the UK these level three transitional vehicles? Why have we not simply moved to fully autonomous vehicles?’

  ‘Two reasons I know of. First, the Department of Transport’s view, as advised by many experts, was that it’s too big a leap for the public to make all at once, to move from all manual to all autonomous. The Department was advised it would be preferable to take things in stages.’

  ‘And the other reason?’

  ‘Extreme caution. These cars have been extensively tested, but there are always residual concerns that something might malfunction.’

  ‘And cause an accident?’

  ‘And cause an accident, yes.’

  ‘Has research been carried out on how autonomous vehicles recognise road signs?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘There was some evidence, from the USA, that road signs were not always correctly interpreted, leading to a small number of minor accidents.’

  ‘That makes the issue sound of little importance. It’s more than that, isn’t it? I can take you to the relevant studies if you wish?’

  Mr Abrams frowned.

  ‘It is an area that I know is being worked on,’ he said. ‘If signs were dirty or positioned in badly lit areas, or if they had been
graffitied, then cars sometimes did not notice them or failed to read them correctly.’

  ‘Or if they were at an angle?’

  ‘Yes, if they were not face-on they were more difficult for autonomous vehicles to read.’

  ‘Was there one specific sign that was highlighted as most problematic?’

  ‘No, but word signs are better understood generally, as long as they are in the language the car understands.’

  ‘And the temporary traffic light sign which appeared on the road at around 150 metres before the collision site, that is a symbol sign, isn’t it?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What about hacking?’

  ‘I saw no evidence that this car’s software had been hacked.’

  ‘But autonomous cars can be hacked?’

  ‘Theoretically.’

  ‘And why is that?’

  ‘They are not self-contained. They send signals back to a central server, usually via the internet or cellular connections. Often the entertainment system or GPS is a way for a hacker to gain entry. They communicate with each other too.’

  ‘It isn’t just theoretical then?’

  ‘Well. In my view, it is.’

  ‘How much is the UK government currently spending on this theoretical hacking concern?’

  ‘Around £5 million.’

  ‘So the government, including its specialist IT advisers, does not share your view. They see it as a realistic worry, or they would not be spending £5 million of public funds on it?’

  ‘Look, the government has to be sure. But the educated view is that there isn’t a real risk. And £5 million is a drop in the ocean, really.’

  Judith saw Celia hovering, half-standing in protest, but ploughed on regardless.

  ‘Were all UK 2016 SEDAs programmed in the same way?’

  ‘Yes. As far as I know.’

  ‘Who worked on the underlying software programmes?’

  ‘Skilled software technicians at the Essex factory. I was given access to them and it’s in my report.’

  ‘Access?’

  ‘I talked to them.’

  Judith glanced fleetingly at Celia, who was now studiously ignoring her. She tried to keep the excitement from infiltrating her voice.

  ‘They didn’t actually show you any of the underlying software.’

  ‘There was no reason for them to do that. I’m not interrogating their entire autonomous car programme and I wouldn’t have the know-how even if I wanted to. I just checked a couple of parameters with them. They had given me the data from the EDR and that was all I needed in my report.’

  Judith stood up straight and frowned so hard her eyebrows joined in the middle.

  ‘Can you just repeat that last sentence.’

  ‘Yes. I said “they had given me the data from the EDR and that was all I needed”.’

  ‘SEDA technicians extracted the data from the EDR and gave it to you?’

  ‘Yes. But that’s usual. There are tools on the market to extract the data, but it’s still safer for the manufacturer to do it. Then they can’t argue that you’ve messed things up and tried to blame them. And sometimes you need a security code to access it too.’

  Celia’s eyes narrowed, and her poisonous glance to her solicitor suggested this might have been news to her too.

  ‘How do we know, then, that the data you have seen is the original, unadulterated data? How do we know that this car did not malfunction and you were given the data from another vehicle?’

  Mr Abrams also looked at Celia’s solicitor.

  ‘We don’t. We have to trust them.’

  Judith paused for maximum impact before continuing.

  ‘Your honour. Can I explain to the court for a moment, that there was a tussle of sorts in the civil courts regarding who should first access the EDR. Mr Salisbury’s application to the police was rejected. Instead, the Department of Transport intervened and obtained access to the data first, on the basis of there being a necessary public interest.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘The defence had therefore assumed, wrongly it now seems, that the Department of Transport had accessed the data in a supervised fashion, together with Mr Abrams. Perhaps my learned friend can assist.’

  Celia had recovered her composure sufficiently to return to attack mode.

  ‘Your honour. First of all, this is not a matter for court today. If Ms Burton had real concerns about the integrity of the data, these should have been raised weeks ago when she was provided with a copy of Mr Abrams’ report. Second, while the Ministry gained permission to access the data, it was felt that the most prudent method, in the circumstances, was for a SEDA representative to extract the data under the watchful eye of Mr Abrams and…’

  ‘He didn’t.’ Mr Abrams interrupted Celia.

  ‘I beg your pardon,’ Celia almost choked.

  ‘The SEDA representative didn’t “extract the data under the watchful eye of Mr Abrams”.’ Judith and Constance each smothered a giggle as Abrams had mimicked Celia when he spoke, although he seemed completely oblivious to his offence.

  ‘How do you know that?’ Judith stepped in.

  ‘When I arrived at the SEDA factory, they’d already done it. The senior technician, a Mr Herrera, had some other important work to do, so he had “got on with it” before I arrived. I have to say, though, it didn’t appear to have been tampered with in any way and I was present very shortly afterwards.’

  ‘That still doesn’t deal with my first point, which is timing,’ Celia said.

  ‘Ms Burton. Before I have to rule on this, can you give me some inkling of where you are going with it?’

  ‘Your honour, Mr Abrams’ conclusion that Mr Salisbury was in control of the vehicle relies on two things; the cameras mounted on the chassis of the car, and data relating to speed, steering, braking – all provided by studying the EDR. As I understand it, the camera footage was left intact pending examination by Mr Abrams, and he was able to access that himself. But, as we’ve just heard, the EDR data was not.’

  ‘Mr Abrams. Is it possible to manipulate the data from the EDR? So that, for example, you change the speed recorded by the vehicle to 36 mph rather than 26?’ Judge Wilson turned to the witness.

  ‘Your honour, with technology, anything is possible,’ he replied. ‘But the injuries were consistent with a collision at above 35 mph.’

  ‘Ms Burton. Are you asking me to do something, as a result of this potential difficulty?’

  ‘Your honour. This is a real difficulty and it will come up again and again in the future, unless a formal mechanism is put in place to compel manufacturers to provide access to the EDR under controlled conditions.’

  ‘Your malaise may well be justified, but what are you suggesting I do about it now?’

  ‘I don’t see how we can possibly continue this trial. The prosecution is relying on data from the car which cannot possibly be trusted to make assertions that the car was performing correctly. Lack of oversight of the data at the crucial moment makes it totally unreliable, and therefore, inadmissible.’

  ‘Your honour, I must object,’ Celia said. ‘Ms Burton is impugning the data without any basis. The fact that data could, theoretically, have been changed does not mean it was changed. I say we ask the technician to come in. Surely it will only take a moment.’

  ‘Your honour. Mr Herrera is unlikely to admit to having altered the data, so we will take up court time but be back to square one. This should not have been allowed to happen in the first place.’

  Judge Wilson held up his hand. Judith and Celia both sat down. James was staring intently over at Martine.

  ‘Ms Burton, there is some weight in what you say. However, I tend to think that this would not necessarily render the evidence inadmissible. It would be more a question of how much weight to attach to it. It does
seem sensible, before we proceed much further, though, to call this Mr Herrera. He could also assist with the issue on which Mr Abrams has limited knowledge; namely why this vehicle made the decisions it did.’

  ‘You honour. I will accept that for now, as long as you please note that I have not withdrawn my application for the case against my client to be dropped.’

  ‘Noted Ms Burton. That’s settled then. Ms Mansome, see if you can arrange this and send me a revised timetable. I’ll review it when I can. Ms Burton. Do you have any further questions for this witness?’

  ‘Just a few.’

  ‘Well, we are nearing lunchtime. Let’s break now. Back at 2pm.

  ***

  ‘Where did you get to with the traffic lights?’ Judith asked Constance as they reviewed their notes in the break.

  ‘Bit of a dead end. I found the contractors, called them and left a message, finally managed to speak to someone.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘They did log a call from a man, a Mr Senior, who said the lights had been completely out when he passed at around 2.30, so just before the accident. They had an engineer nearby. By the time he got there the accident had happened, so he had to park and walk the last bit. But they found his report, which was that the lights were working perfectly well when he attended.’

  ‘Are they able to look back and see if the lights malfunctioned in the past?’

  ‘I asked and he said it’s not possible.’

  ‘All right. You tried. What about the CCTV?’

  ‘I am still waiting for it. Dawson’s got someone digging it out. I should get access by this evening at the latest.’

  ‘OK. So priority now is Mr Herrera.’

  ‘Mr Herrera?’

  ‘SEDA’s technician. Get up there now and speak to him. I’ve hardly anything else left for Abrams.’

  ‘But what kind of things should I ask?’

  ‘First you ask him about the EDR. And then see what else you can find out. We need to understand more about how these vehicles navigate. I’m sure we’re missing a trick.’

  ‘OK. There’s also something I must ask James too. It may be nothing, but I suddenly had a thought about the car, just now when Abrams was speaking. I’ll prioritise Herrera though. See you later.’