An autonomous SUV being tested by the ride-sharing company, Uber, was involved in a fatal accident in Tempe, Arizona Sunday night. The SUV that struck and killed 49-year old Elaine Herzberg, is the first documented death involving a full autonomous test vehicle. The autonomous SUV was in self-driving mode with a human backup driver behind the wheel when it struck Herzberg, who was walking her bicycle outside the lines of a crosswalk, and abruptly walked from a center median into the autonomous car’s traffic lane.
While the incident could have drastic ramifications for Uber and companies they’re competing against (like Ford and GM) to autonomous vehicle, Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir concluded (after reviewing footage captured by the Uber vehicle) that Uber might not necessarily be at fault.
“It’s very clear it would have been difficult to avoid this collision in any kind of mode, based on how she came from the shadows right into the roadway,” says Moir. “It is dangerous to cross roadways in the evening hour when well-illuminated, managed crosswalks are available.”
The SUV was reportedly traveling around 38 mph in a 35 miles-per-hour zone, and showed no signs of slowing down before striking Herzberg. Uber immediately suspended all road testing for autonomous vehicles in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto. Neither Herzberg or the SUV’s backup driver showed any signs of impairment.
“The pedestrian was outside of the crosswalk, so it was midblock,” says Tempe Police Sergeant Ronald Elcock. “And as soon as she walked into the lane of traffic, she was struck by the vehicle.”
The incident has even prompted the National Transportation Safety Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, both of which can enact and recommend regulations along with other means of preventing car crashes, to send investigators to evaluate the scene. Autonomous vehicles with laser, radar, camera sensors, and sophisticated computers are supposed to be the answer to mitigating the 40,000+ traffic deaths that occur annually in the United States. Ninety-four percent of crashes are caused by human error, and while autonomous vehicles don’t get impaired, sleepy, or distracted, they still have their own set of flaws—as Sunday night’s incident showed.
Sunday night’s crash isn’t the first involving an Uber autonomous test vehicle. In March 2017, another Uber SUV with self-driving capabilities flipped onto its side (also occurring in Tempe). Although no serious injuries occurred, the driver of a second vehicle involved was cited for a violation. Although Sunday night marked the first fatality by an autonomous test vehicle, it wasn’t the first that occurred in a car with self-driving features. In 2016, a Tesla driver was killed when their vehicle (on autopilot at the time), crashed into a truck while changing lanes.
