USA: Uber's self-driving car kills a pedestrian

An Uber self-driving car has been involved in an accident involving the death of a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. Victim of the accident, Elaine Herzberg, 49, was hit by Uber's Volvo XC90 undergoing vehicle trials.

The car was travelling at a speed of 64 km/h when it hit the woman who was crossing the road outside of the crosswalk area. While the car was in autonomous mode, a backup driver was present and there were no other passengers in the car. Authorities have ruled out driver impairment and have released a statement saying that the driver is cooperating with them.

This is the first reported fatal accident involving an autonomous vehicle. Back in September 2017, a fatal crash was reported involving a Tesla in autopilot mode and a truck. The NTSB ruled that over-reliance of technology was the cause of that accident. It must be noted that while the Uber car was in full autonomous mode, the Tesla was in semi-autonomous mode, requiring the driver to be ready to take over at any moment.

Considering the situation, Uber has suspended autonomous vehicle testing in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

Source - USA Today