Uber is halting its self-driving car program after a female pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona was struck and killed Sunday.
According to a release from Tempe police, Uber’s vehicle was in autonomous mode with a vehicle operator behind the wheel at the time of the collision. The woman killed was reportedly crossing the road outside of the crosswalk when the accident occurred.
Uber has been conducting tests of autonomous vehicles in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Toronto and other areas. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Twitter that the company is working with law enforcement to determine the cause of the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a release that it’s sending a team to study the accident.
“The investigation will address the vehicle’s interaction with the environment, other vehicles and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists,” the agency said in a release. “The team will consist of Investigator-in-Charge Jennifer Morrison and three investigators who will examine vehicle factors, human performance and electronic recorders.”
Uber also pulled its vehicles from roads last year after a self-driving vehicle in Tempe was knocked onto its side after another vehicle failed to yield. There were no injuries.
In 2016, a man was killed when his Tesla collided with a semi-truck while using Tesla’s Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer lane-keeping assistance features. The crash was the first known fatal crash involving a car using an automated driver assistance system. NTSB investigators found that the Autopilot system operated as designed, but should have demanded more attention from the driver.
With both car and tech companies racing to develop self-driving systems, some industry watchers are already asking them to slow down.
Raj Rajkumar, head of Carnegie Mellon University’s leading self-driving laboratory, called Sunday’s accident a “nightmare” and said technology companies should freeze their self-driving programs, according to Axios.
“This isn’t like a bug with your phone,” Rajkumar said in the Axios report. “People can get killed. Companies need to take a deep breath. The technology is not there yet. We need to keep people in the loop.”
According to a release from Tempe police, Uber’s vehicle was in autonomous mode with a vehicle operator behind the wheel at the time of the collision. The woman killed was reportedly crossing the road outside of the crosswalk when the accident occurred.
Uber has been conducting tests of autonomous vehicles in Arizona, Pittsburgh, Toronto and other areas. Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi said on Twitter that the company is working with law enforcement to determine the cause of the accident.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a release that it’s sending a team to study the accident.
“The investigation will address the vehicle’s interaction with the environment, other vehicles and vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and bicyclists,” the agency said in a release. “The team will consist of Investigator-in-Charge Jennifer Morrison and three investigators who will examine vehicle factors, human performance and electronic recorders.”
Uber also pulled its vehicles from roads last year after a self-driving vehicle in Tempe was knocked onto its side after another vehicle failed to yield. There were no injuries.
In 2016, a man was killed when his Tesla collided with a semi-truck while using Tesla’s Traffic-Aware Cruise Control and Autosteer lane-keeping assistance features. The crash was the first known fatal crash involving a car using an automated driver assistance system. NTSB investigators found that the Autopilot system operated as designed, but should have demanded more attention from the driver.
With both car and tech companies racing to develop self-driving systems, some industry watchers are already asking them to slow down.
Raj Rajkumar, head of Carnegie Mellon University’s leading self-driving laboratory, called Sunday’s accident a “nightmare” and said technology companies should freeze their self-driving programs, according to Axios.
“This isn’t like a bug with your phone,” Rajkumar said in the Axios report. “People can get killed. Companies need to take a deep breath. The technology is not there yet. We need to keep people in the loop.”
