Arizona pedestrian is killed by Uber self-driving car

San Jose Mercury News (CA)

March 19--In what is believed to be the first death of a pedestrian hit by a self-driving car on a public street, a woman in Tempe, Arizona was killed in an accident involving an Uber self-driving vehicle Sunday night.

Uber confirmed the accident occurred, and that there was a person in a front passenger seat acting as operator of the vehicle. Uber said that as a result of the accident, it is putting a hold on all tests involving its self-driving cars. In addition to Arizona, the ride-sharing company has been running tests of self-driving cars in San Francisco, Pittsburgh and Toronto.

Uber said it has more than 200 self-driving cars as part of its autonomous vehicle testing program.

"Our hearts go out to the victim's family. We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident," said an Uber spokesperson, in a statement provided to this news organization.

Tempe police confirmed that the unidentified woman was struck as she walked from west to east outside of a crosswalk Sunday night. The victim was then transported to a local hospital, where she died. The Tempe police department said the incident was still part of an active investigation, and that Uber is assisting with the matter.

Tim Bajarin, president of tech consultancy Creative Strategies, said Sunday's fatality shows the technology behind autonomous vehicles is "by no means ready for prime time," despite all the attention and investment being given to the technology behind such cars.

"This underlines that this technology is still years away from being safe enough to use in real-world settings," Bajarin said. 'We need a lot more in the way of technological breakthroughs before autonomous vehicles ever hit the road in a broad way."

Tempe police said the woman was crossing Mill Avenue outside of a crosswalk just south of Curry Road when she was struck by a northbound car. That stretch of road runs alongside Papago Park north of the Salt River.

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