Self-driving-car death might stall industry
Pedestrian killed on Tempe, Ariz., street by Uber autonomous vehicle
SAN FRANCISCO – An Uber selfdriving car hit and killed a woman in Tempe, Ariz., a tragic milestone that could lead to a major setback in the otherwise feverish development of driverless transportation.
The death of Elaine Herzberg, 49, who was crossing a street outside the marked crosswalk, appears to be the first time a self-driving car has been involved in the fatality of a person not inside the vehicle.
In 2016, a man was killed while behind the wheel of a Tesla that was driving itself in Autopilot mode when a truck cut across its path — the first such death related to a car in self-driving mode. Investigators found the driver failed to heed warnings to take back control of his car.
The Arizona accident is poised to become a focal point of a debate over the viability of self-driving cars, which promoters vow will save lives while skeptics contend it remains dangerously ill-prepared for prime time.
Uber’s test car was in self-driving mode when the accident occurred but had a safety driver — a person who is supposed to step in and take control if there’s a snafu — as is the norm when testing such vehicles, according to Tempe police.
Uber, which is based in San Francisco, issued a statement saying that it was “fully cooperating with local authorities.” In the wake of the incident, the ride-hailing company has temporarily halted its self-driving testing in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto, as is its policy following any accident.
Tempe police Sgt. Ronald Elcock confirmed to USA TODAY Network that the car was in autonomous mode with a driver behind the wheel when it hit the pedestrian. There were no passengers in the car at the time. The safety driver’s name was not released.
The woman was crossing outside the designated crosswalk at about 10 p.m. when she was hit, police said.
In a statement mourning Herzberg’s death, Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said his city has been welcoming to selfdriving tests “because of the promise the technology may offer in many areas,” particularly for seniors and the disabled.
In a tweet, National Transportation Safety Board officials said they were sending a team to Arizona to investigate the accident.
Federal regulators have been suppor-
tive of the move toward autonomy, with Transportation secretaries under both President Obama and President Trump creating a framework for companies to share developments without giving away trade secrets.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted Monday that the company had “some incredibly sad news out of Arizona. We’re thinking of the victim’s family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened.”
This appears to be the first known pedestrian death involving a self-driving car, a technology that long has been touted by its supporters as being able to drastically reduce the number of automobile fatalities.
Around 37,000 were killed in traffic accidents in 2016, up 6% from the previous year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The incident is sure to add fuel to concerns on the part of some activists, such as Consumer Watchdog, who feel the technology that allows the cars to sense their surroundings is not ready for prime time.
Critics claim that legislators in autonomous-friendly states such as California, Arizona and Michigan are too eager to accommodate such testing in the hopes of being early winners in a new mobility sweepstakes.
“There should be a national moratorium on all robot car testing on public roads until the complete details of this tragedy are made public and are analyzed by outside experts so we understand what went so terribly wrong,” says John Simpson, privacy and technology project director at Consumer Watchdog.
“Arizona has been the Wild West of robot car testing with virtually no regulations in place,” he says. “That’s why Uber and Waymo test there. When there’s no sheriff in town, people get killed.”
Robbie Diamond, president of the non-partisan group Securing America’s Future Energy, which advocates for mobility solutions that don’t rely on oil, said that self-driving cars remain a viable way to reduce traffic deaths given the right oversight.
“As federal investigations shed light on the factors that led to this incident, policymakers must work toward a clear national framework to enable the prudent testing and development of this technology in a manner that will save lives as soon as possible.”
Uber and Waymo, the name of Google’s self-driving car company, have been testing self-driving cars aggressively in the Phoenix area for a few years.
Waymo has been picking up beta-program passengers in its self-driving Pacifica minivans since last year and later this year plans to open the program to a wide Phoenix audience.
The company also just started operating without a safety driver overseeing the ride from the passenger seat.
It remains too early to tell if the fatality will slow the feverish pace of self-driving car progress.