A woman crossing a street was killed by an Uber self-driving sport utility vehicle in Arizona, police said on Monday, leading the ride services company to suspend its autonomous vehicle program across the United States and Canada.
The accident in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe marked the first fatality from a self-driving vehicle, which are being tested around the globe, and could derail efforts to fast-track the introduction of the new technology.
The vehicle was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel at the time of the accident, which occurred overnight Sunday to Monday, Tempe police said.
“The vehicle was traveling northbound … when a female walking outside of the crosswalk crossed the road from west to east when she was struck by the Uber vehicle,” police said in a statement.
The woman later died from her injuries in a hospital, police said. Her name has not been released because her next of kin had not yet been notified, police said.
……..
- Discussion
-
Terrible. Uber's only chance to actually turn a profit was ditching human drivers. Kiss that (+ Uber) goodbye now. https://t.co/IzVt95GemS
— John Schindler (@20committee) March 19, 2018
I’m a regular Uber customer. Have yet to ride in one of those self-driving vehicles, but it’s just as well. The technology is not yet well developed. There is too much risk and that risk may never improve.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.