Uber has pulled all its self-driving cars off the road as police in Arizona investigate a fatal collision involving one of its autonomous vehicles.
The incident is feared to be the first time a pedestrian has been killed by a self-driving car, after a Tesla driver died in a crash while using its Autopilot system in 2016.
The woman’s death in Tempe, Arizona, will reawaken the debate over the safety of autonomous vehicles at a time when regulators and technology companies have been accelerating deployment of self-driving systems on public roads.
Tempe is a short distance to the east of Phoenix, one of a handful of US cities where Uber is testing its self-driving technology, alongside San Francisco, Toronto and Pittsburgh. Uber has suspended operations of its autonomous testing in all four locations.
The incident occurred on Sunday night, Tempe’s police department said in a statement.
“The vehicle involved is one of Uber’s self-driving vehicles. It was in autonomous mode at the time of the collision, with a vehicle operator behind the wheel,” Tempe police said.
The woman was crossing the road, apparently without using a designated pedestrian crossing, when the Uber vehicle struck her, according to the police. She was taken to a nearby hospital where she died from her injuries. The woman’s name has not yet been released. “Uber is assisting and this is still an active investigation,” Tempe police said.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family,” an Uber spokesperson said. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident.”
Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber’s chief executive, added in a posting to Twitter: “Some incredibly sad news out of Arizona. We’re thinking of the victim’s family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened.”
– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2018
