Autonomous driving Uber car is involved in fatal accident with pedestrian

A car driving in autonomous mode using Uber’s technology has hit a woman in the US state of Arizona, who died of her injuries. Uber has temporarily suspended its testing with the technology.

According to The New York Times, it appears to be the first fatal accident of a pedestrian caused by an autonomously driving car on a public road. According to the police statement, the woman was crossing the road in the city of Tempe, but not at a crosswalk, when she was hit by the vehicle.

The car drove in autonomous mode, but had a human driver who could theoretically intervene and take the wheel. Details about the accident are still unknown. An Uber spokeswoman said she is cooperating fully with the police investigation and has temporarily halted testing of autonomous vehicles in the cities of Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

Uber has dozens of autonomous driving vehicles on the road in the US. The fleet provides the company with valuable information that can be used to improve the technology. A year ago, the company’s own figures showed that the cars still had to be regularly adjusted by the human occupant.

A Tesla with Autopilot activated also caused a fatal accident two years ago, but that was when it collided with another car. The conclusion of the investigation at the time was that both drivers made mistakes and the high degree of automation of the Tesla also played a role.