Driverless car in death crash was speeding

A SELF-DRIVING Uber car which killed a female pedestrian in Arizona was speeding when the crash occurred, police said yesterday.

Elaine Herzberg, 49, was crossing the road on Monday when she was hit by the 4x4 in Tempe. She was taken to hospital but died of her injuries. Tempe Police said the car was travelling at 40mph in a 35mph zone. Preliminary investigations suggest it did not slow down before the accident.

Rafael Vasquez, a 44-year-old safety tester from Uber, was behind the wheel but the vehicle was in autonomous mode. It is the first known pedestrian death involving a self-driving car.

Sergeant Ronald Elcock, a police spokesman, said Ms Herzberg was walking her bicycle across the road when she was knocked down. Uber immediately suspended all testing of its driverless fleet in North America and said it was cooperating with police.

Driverless cars rely on a network of cameras and sensors to detect vehicles, pedestrians and obstacles as they navigate cities. The police findings will raise concerns over the safety of the tests.

After the accident it emerged that Mr Vasquez was convicted of attempted armed robbery, something that should have appeared on Uber’s background personnel checks during recruitment.