Uber Self Driving Car Hit And Kills A Bike Riding Woman

News and Announcements
#1

This just happened today here in Tempe, Arizona where they have been testing autonomous uber cars. A woman was killed riding a bike by Uber self-driving car (vehicle). The autonomous vehicle hit a woman walking outside of the crosswalk at Mill Avenue and Curry Road intersection around 10 p.m. Sunday night.

Uber has the unfortunate luck of being the first company to be attributed the first death of a pedestrian in an autonomous vehicle history. The first human death is attributed to Tesla when an AV crashed last year, and the safety driver was killed.

The driverless car has hit the roads, it is being tested all over the US, and Waymo has even started a small pilot for fully self-driving car riding in Phoenix Arizona. However, it was to Uber that an unfortunate accident causing the death of a woman pedestrian would be written in the annals of history.

Uber has not yet reached full autonomous (driverless) driving as with Waymo, so the vehicle involved in the accident was driving in fully autonomous mode but with a safety engineer sitting behind the wheel.

According to Tempe Police, the victim was Elaine Herzberg, a 49-year-old resident of Tempe, who was crossing the street when the uber self-driving car struck her. The accident occurred around 10 pm, and the Herzberg died of her wounds on the way to the hospital.

Uber has stopped all self-driving car testing in all areas until the investigation is complete and full understanding of the cause of the accident is known. Uber’s technology is different to Waymo’s, but the results of the accident will help both companies understand why such an accident occurred, why the onboard safety driver did not help why the system did not brake immediately when a proximity alert should have “sounded” within the system.

#2

It’s indeed a shame and sad that someone has lost their loved one due to a driving robot. Uber is pushing this forward. I know Lyft has interest, but I don’t think they have invested in getting these on the road as if yet.

#3

Agreed. This is why we need to stand together and fight Uber and potentially Lyft to stop this from occurring. Man makes robots, they are potentially more prone to an incident because of this fact.

#4

Fortunately, in Ca, this is not allowed by law. Where do you think the AZ cars came from? They are the same ones that were kicked out of San Francisco when CA revoked their registrations there.

#5

Self Driving cars are operating in SF. Uber just announced the suspension of all Self Driving cars in all markets. Where available. That’s from abc 15 report.

#6

Let me expand on what I meant. I was unclear. Rideshare companies cannot use a self-driving company vehicle for rideshare in Ca.

#7
#8

Tempe Police says the self-driving vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash and a vehicle operator was also behind the wheel. No passengers were in the vehicle at the time.

#9

How many regular cars hit pedestrians last night? I’ll bet it was a lot more than just one.

#10

The point is this shouldn’t have happened unless the lady swerved right in front of the car. Unfortunately, with her not being able to give her side of the story we’ll have to rely on dash cam footage.

#11

I wonder if Uber will look at their own dash cam video?

#12

Would you trust the life of your children riding there bike or walking across the road while they are TESTING these self-driving cars on public streets.

#13

Unless Arizona has changed their laws, riding as an intoxicated passenger in one of these autonomous vehicles will make you liable for a DUI citation and arrest.

#14

If an autonomous vehicle can’t work in a fair weather environment like Phoenix how is it going to work in other states that have climatic weather events?
This thing is not going to work yet; Uber wants to put it in heavy-duty commercial vehicles. They should not hurry and test the self-driving cars and trucks thoroughly before bringing this tech on the streets. Human life should have more importance than corporate greed.