A woman was knocked down and eventually killed by a Uber autopilot SUV as she crossed the road on Monday, according to local police in Arizona. Uber suspended tests on self-driving cars at all locations. This could be the first pedestrian death caused by a self-driving car.
The accident in suburban Phoenix, Arizona, will affect not only Uber's plans for self-driving, but also the entire self-driving industry's eventual release of plans for driverless cars on public roads.
This is the first fatal accident caused by a self-driving car. Today, many technology companies and carmakers around the world are developing and testing their own driverless car technology in the hope of disrupting logistics, transportation and taxi-hailing.
According to local police, the Uber self-driving SUV was in self-driving mode late on Sunday while a driver was sitting on the vehicle. "the vehicle was heading north," the police said in a statement. A woman was knocked down as she crossed the crosswalk from west to east. "
Police identified the victim, a 49-year-old woman named Elaine Herzberg (Elaine Herzberg). After being knocked down, she was taken to the hospital and eventually died as a result of rescue.
A spokesman for Uber said the company had suspended driverless car testing plans across North America. Uber expressed its grief over the dead in a Twitter development and said it would actively cooperate with the police investigation.
Volvo, the carmaker, confirmed that the SUV in the accident was the brand's XC90 model, but the Uber used a version it specifically used for self-driving testing. Volvo spokesman Russell Diz (Russell Datz) said the autopilot technology was not developed by Volvo.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the National Transportation Safety Council (NTC) (NTSB) said they were setting up an ad hoc group to investigate the incident. NHTSA also said it was in contact with Volvo. The Swedish car brand is now owned by Chinese automaker Geely.
In Canada, Ontario's traffic authority said it was investigating the accident. Uber also conducted driverless car tests in Toronto.
On Friday, Uber and Waymo, a self-driving arm of Alphabet, urged Congress to introduce laws to speed up the arrival of self-driving technology in the United States. At the time, some Democrats in Congress said they should suspend passage of the legislation because of security concerns. Congressional aides said on Monday that Monday's fatal accident would hinder the passage of self-driving-related legislation.
Former US traffic minister Anthony Fox (Anthony Foxx) said in a Twitter dynamic: "the accident is a warning to the entire self-driving industry and to the government and should be more technical security."
Congressman John Chule (John Thune), who heads the Senate Commerce Committee, has been advocating the use of the legislation to accelerate the landing of driverless cars in the United States. In a statement, he said the accident "highlighted the importance of making laws governing driverless cars."
"Congress should act to strengthen the legislation, guide carmakers to set safety requirements, and increase the number of technical experts in the government department," Chu said.
Arizona's attitude towards driverless cars has been good, allowing technology companies and automakers to test driverless cars across the state as a way to grow the economy and create jobs. Arizona Governor Doug Dusie (Doug Ducey) signed an executive order in 2015 allowing Uber to test driverless cars across the state. Uber has previously sought permission to test driverless cars from government, California, but without permission.
Uber and Waymo,GM 's Cruise division, among other technology companies and car companies, are developing and testing driverless car technology with a view to making it available to the public in the next few years.
Uber has said its ability to develop driverless car technology is important to its success in the fast-growing transportation industry. Uber's driverless car has traveled more than 2 million miles. There are more than 100 self-driving test cars in the Phoenix area of Arizona.