Arizona police: fatal accident of autonomous Uber car seemed difficult to prevent

Arizona police, where an autonomous Uber car was involved in a fatal accident with a pedestrian on Monday, say after a preliminary analysis it appears that a collision could have been difficult to avoid.

The San Francisco Chronicle newspaper quotes Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir as saying that the human driver who was in the car only knew something had happened from the sound of the collision. The car was traveling at 38 mph in a 35-mile zone, or 61 km/h in a 56 km/h zone. Based on an analysis of video footage, Moir said: “It’s clear that it would have been difficult to avoid a collision, judging by the way the victim walked out of the shadows onto the road.” The car made no attempt to brake.

The newspaper writes that the victim, a 49-year-old woman, walked into the lane with a bicycle and plastic bags from the strip between two halves of the road. Police say there are indications that she was homeless. On Monday, it turned out that the woman had died from her injuries. The Uber car was traveling in autonomous mode, but a driver was on hand to intervene if necessary. Following the accident, Uber temporarily halted its self-driving car trials in the cities of Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

Tempe police say the accident happened near a pedestrian crossing. A charge against the driver present in the car cannot be ruled out, Moir said.

Update, 11:38: Text clarified with regard to ‘separation’ between the lanes and the car’s failure to brake.