Self-Driving Uber Car Strikes And Kills Arizona Woman Crossing Street

Source: Uber

Uber has halted testing of its self-driving vehicle program after a woman was struck and killed by a car in Tempe, Arizona.

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The incident took place Sunday night when the car struck 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg as she was crossing a street. According to Tempe police officers Herzberg was "walking outside of the crosswalk" when she was struck. A driver was behind the wheel when the crash took place but the car was in autonomous mode.

Herzberg's death is believed to be the first fatality in any testing program involving self-driving vehicles, according to a report from the Washington Post.

Uber's testing of its autonomous cars has now been halted San Francisco, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Toronto. After the incident a spokeswoman for Uber issued the following short statement: "Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident."

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi also spoke on the crash, taking to Twitter to write: "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."

Eric Weiss, a spokesman for the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) said that the organization has opened an investigation into the crash.

Source: Washington Post