A self-driving Uber struck down a pedestrian earlier this week who later succumbed to her injuries at the hospital. This was likely the first known fatal accident involving a self-driving car. The accident took place early morning in Tempe, Arizona and authorities have started their investigations. The local police department has released a video of this fatal Uber self-driving car crash recorded using the vehicle’s cameras. The disturbing video shows the final moments before the crash and reveals some more details about the accident.
The victim can be seen crossing a dark street when she gets struck by the car at 40 miles per hour. It has already been confirmed that the car was in autonomous mode at the time of the accident.
All self-driving cars have a human safety driver behind the wheel to take over in case of an emergency. This would certainly classify as an emergency, however, the interior view shows that the person behind the wheel was likely distracted. It’s unclear what she was looking down at just moments before the car struck the pedestrian.
No explanation has been offered as yet regarding the car’s inability to detect a pedestrian moving across the range of its many sensors and why the human safety driver appears to be distracted. Appears being the operative word here as it’s not known what she was looking down at.
Uber has since grounded its entire fleet of self-driving cars not just in Arizona but in all states as it continues to cooperate with law enforcement agencies.
Note: The video embedded below is disturbing and graphic even though it doesn’t show the actual impact.
Tempe Police Vehicular Crimes Unit is actively investigating
the details of this incident that occurred on March 18th. We will provide updated information regarding the investigation once it is available. pic.twitter.com/2dVP72TziQ— Tempe Police (@TempePolice) March 21, 2018
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