Self-driving car ‘ought to have seen’ victim

of a fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber car suggests the pedestrian who was killed should have been within range of the vehicle’s laser and radar sensors, two experts said.

Authorities investigating the crash in a Phoenix suburb released video of the Uber SUV that cuts out just before the woman was struck as she walked on to a street. The second part of the video shows the reaction of the driver filmed from inside the car.

Tempe police chief Sylvia Moir has said the SUV would probably not be found at fault, but two experts who viewed the video said the SUV’S sensors should have spotted the 49-year-old woman and her bicycle in time to brake.

They said it appears there was enough time and distance to avoid the collision.

The lights on the SUV did not illuminate 49-yearold Elaine Herzberg until a second or two before impact, raising questions about whether the vehicle could have stopped in time.

The crash on Sunday night in Arizona was the first death involving a fully autonomous test vehicle.

The Volvo was in self-driving mode with a human back-up driver at the wheel when it struck Ms Herzberg, police said.

The video shows the human back-up driver looking down until seconds before the crash.

Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, said: “The victim did not come out of nowhere. She’s moving on a dark road, but it’s an open road, so Lidar (laser) and radar should have detected and classified her as a human.”

Mr Smith added: “This is strongly suggestive of multiple failures of Uber and its system, its automated system, and its safety driver”.