SERVICES
Apr2018
Issue307
Private hire and taxi Insurance Specialists
01704 270 061
DRIVERLESS UBER CAR KILLS ARIZONA WOMAN CROSSING THE ROAD
An Uber self-driving car hit and killed a woman crossing a street in Arizona, marking the first fatality involving an autonomous vehicle and a potential blow to the technology expected to trans- form road passenger transportation. Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle outside the pedestrian crossing on a four-lane road in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe about 10pm on Sunday 18 March when she was struck by the Uber vehicle travelling at about 40mph, police said. The Volvo XC90 SUV was in auto- nomous mode with an operator behind the wheel. Herzberg later died from her injuries in a hospital. Uber said it was sus- pending North Amer- ican tests of its self- driving vehicles, which are currently going on in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Tor- onto.
Last month’s acci- dent underscored the possible chal- lenges ahead for technology sur- rounding so-called robot cars as the vehicles confront real-world situations involving real people. U.S. lawmakers have been debating legis- lation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars. “This tragic accident underscores why we need to be excep- tionally cautious when testing and deploying autono- mous vehicle tech- nologies on public roads,” said Demo- cratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the trans- portation committee. “The pedestrian was outside the pedestri- an crossing. As soon as she walked into the lane of traffic she was struck,” Tempe Police Sergeant Ronald Elcock told reporters at a news conference. He said he did not yet know
how close Herzberg was to the vehicle when she stepped into the lane. The San Francisco Chronicle later report- ed that Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir said after viewing videos taken from the vehi- cle “it’s very clear it would have been dif- ficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode (autonomous or human-driven) based on how she came from the shad- ows right into the roadway.” Moir told the Chron- icle, “I suspect pre- liminarily it appears that the Uber would likely not be at fault in this accident,” but she did not rule out that charges could be filed against the operator in the Uber vehicle, the paper reported. “The Tempe Police Department does not determine fault in vehicular colli- sions,” the depart- ment said in a state- ment in reply to
questions from Reu- ters about the chief’s comments. “Ultimately the in- vestigation will be submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review and any potential charges.” Tempe authorities and federal officials are still investigating the incident. Cana- da’s transportation ministry in Ontario, where Uber con- ducts testing, also said it was reviewing the accident. Arizona has opened its arms to compa- nies testing self- driving vehicles as a means to economic growth and jobs. Republican Gover- nor Doug Ducey reached out to Uber in 2016 after Califor- nia regulators crack- ed down on the company over its failure to obtain test- ing permits. More details have since emerged about the incident; see inside this edition.
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