TEMPE, Arizona--An Uber self-driving car hit and killed a woman crossing the street in Arizona, police said on Monday, marking the first fatality involving an autonomous vehicle and a potential blow to the technology expected to transform transportation.
The ride services company said it was suspending North American tests of its self-driving vehicles, which are currently going on in Arizona, Pittsburgh and Toronto.
So-called robot cars, when fully developed by companies including Uber, Alphabet Inc and General Motors Co, are expected to drastically cut down on motor vehicle fatalities and create billion-dollar businesses. But Monday's accident underscored the possible challenges ahead for the promising technology as the cars confront real-world situations involving real people.
U.S. lawmakers have been debating legislation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars. "This tragic accident underscores why we need to be exceptionally cautious when testing and deploying autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads," said Democratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the transportation committee, in a statement.
Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle outside the crosswalk on a four-lane road in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe about 10 p.m. MST Sunday when she was struck by the Uber vehicle traveling at about 40 miles per hour (65 km per hour), police said. The car was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel.
Herzberg later died from her injuries in a hospital, police said. "The pedestrian was outside of the crosswalk. 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.
Elcock said he believed Herzberg may have been homeless.
Volvo, the Swedish car brand owned by China's Geely, confirmed its XC90 SUV was involved in the crash but said the software controlling the car was not its own. U.S. federal safety regulators were sending teams to investigate the crash. Canada's transportation ministry in Ontario, where Uber conducts testing, also said it was reviewing the accident.
Video footage would aid the ongoing investigation, and the case would be submitted to the district attorney, Elcock said. "Our investigators have that information, and they will be using that in their investigation as well as the Maricopa County Attorney's Office as part of their investigation," said Elcock. "They are going to attempt to try to find who was possibly at fault and how we can better be safe, whether it's pedestrians or whether it's the vehicle itself."
Uber and Waymo on Friday urged Congress to pass sweeping legislation to speed the introduction of self-driving cars into the United States. Some congressional Democrats have blocked the legislation over safety concerns, and Monday's fatality could hamper passage of the bill, congressional aides said Monday.
