Self-Driving Car Kills Pedestrian

A pedestrian in Tempe, AZ has died following a collision with an Uber self-driving car, the New York Times is reporting. The incident might be the first known pedestrian death caused by the technology. Uber has suspended all self-driving tests pending an investigation.

According to Tempe police, the car was in autonomous mode with a human safety driver at the wheel when it struck the woman walking across the street but not within the sidewalk. Self-driving cars are known to have more difficulty with dark colors blending together. No information has been released about the woman who has died. The state's self-driving oversight committee has made its website private for the time being.

Arizona has long had a reputation for being a "Wild West" of self-driving cars (although the state sought to reform its image earlier this year). Since 2015, the state's permissive laws have opened its roads to vehicles from Uber, Waymo, and others eager to exploit its sunny days and dry weather. Earlier this month, Gov. Doug Ducey issued an executive order saying that self-driving cars did not need human drivers on public roads.

Uber has been operating its self-driving operations in Arizona since 2016, and since last year customers in Tempe have been able to hail rides from self-driving cars. The incident comes two years after the first known death involving a self-driving vehicle, when a Tesla driver was killed in a collision while using the car's Autopilot function

Source:New York Times