An Arizona woman was struck and killed on a city street in Tempe by an Uber autonomous vehicle built by Volvo with a “safety driver” on board. Uber, however, made its own engineering and software changes on the test car. Local police, the U.S. Department of Transportation and both companies are investigating the accident.
It’s the second autonomous vehicle fatality. In 2016, a Tesla test driver was killed when the vehicle, in self-driving mode, struck a semi on a Florida highway.
“According to the Tempe police department, the vehicle, a Volvo XC90, was operating in ‘autonomous mode’ with a human ‘safety driver’ behind the wheel at the time of the accident. Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle in the street outside of a crosswalk when the vehicle hit her.
“Uber issued a statement that it has suspended testing of its autonomous vehicles in Tempe, San Francisco, Toronto and Pittsburgh… The Tempe accident could establish the first batch of case law for autonomous vehicles should the victim’s family press a case of liability. It will be a challenge for the courts, say lawyers.
Read the article at Forbes.
