A car without a driver, her companyUber struck and killed a woman pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, marking the world's first fatality 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 transported by ambulance to a hospital, but succumbed to her injuries. The vehicle that caused the accident was a Volvo XC90 SUV. The National Transport Safety Council said on Twitter that he sent a team to investigate the accident.
The company suspended it program self-driving cars and pulled all self-driving cars off 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 joined the list of self-driving test trips due to state laws allowing self-driving cars on urban roads. Uber began testing such cars in Tempe in February 2017. Google's equivalent car has been operating in the state for years. Uber is also testing the self-driving car truck on the streets of Arizona.
So far, all road accidents concerning autonomous cars were small, which have been caused mainly by other drivers.