A woman has been killed by a self-driving Uber car in what is believed to be the first fatality involving a pedestrian and an autonomous vehicle
Elaine Herzberg, 49, was wheeling her bicycle as she crossed the road on Sunday night. Sadly, she was hit by a modified Volvo XC90. The mother of two was taken to hospital but died from her injuries.
Elaine's death has led to concerns over the safety of autonomous vehicles as they move closer to widespread adoption.
Uber has said that the SUV involved in the crash in Tempe, Arizona, was being tested in autonomous mode with a safety driver sitting behind the wheel. The company rightly suspended its fleet of self-driving cars, which it has been testing since 2016 in cities across the United States and Canada and halted self-driving lorry tests.
The head of Carnegie Mellon University’s self-driving car laboratory, Raj Rajkumar, told the website Axios:
“People can get killed. Companies need to take a deep breath. The technology is not there yet.”
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