A car without a driver, her companys Uber hit and killed a pedestrian woman in Tempe, Arizona, marking the first death worldwide caused by an autonomous vehicle.
The accident revealed today the company itself Uber, and the accident took place while the car was in autonomous (self-driving) operation. The local TV station ABC15 reported that the victim was 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. The Uber vehicle hit Herzberg while she was crossing the road outside the pedestrian crossing.
The woman was taken by ambulance to hospital, but succumbed to her injuries. The vehicle that caused the accident was a Volvo XC90 SUV. The National Transportation Safety Board said on Twitter that he sent a team to investigate the accident.
The company suspended its self-driving program and retired all autonomous vehicles cars from US roads.
For the record, the company had started its research program in 2015 and had developed cars on the streets of Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto. Just before two weeks ago, the company had reported that self-propelled trucks were successfully transporting their cargo.
Tempe and Arizona recently entered the list of test trips with autonomous driving due to state laws that allowed autonomous cars on city roads. Uber started testing such cars in Tempe in February 2017. Google's corresponding car has been operating in the state for years. Uber is also testing its self-propelled truck on the streets of Arizona.
So far, all road accidents concerning autonomous cars were small, which have been caused mainly by other drivers.