Around 10 p.m. Sunday night, a fatal accident between an Uber vehicle and a pedestrian happened near Mill Avenue and Curry Road in Arizona, US. At that time, the Uber car, badged Volvo XC90, was allegedly headed northbound while the woman, Elaine Herzberge, 49, was walking outside of the crosswalk. She was immediately taken to the hospital but sadly, she died.
Uber self-driving car kills a pedestrian
The victim is Elaine Herzberge, 49, who was walking outside of the crosswalk
Tempe police has been investigating this deadly crash and the case will be reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office.
Uber self-driving car had been prohibited from California over safety risks
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As reported, at the time of the crash, the car was in autonomous and the operator, Rafaela Vasquez, 44, was behind the wheel.
"Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident," said an Uber spokesperson. Besides, Dara Khosrowshahi – Uber CEO also acknowledged the accident on his Twitter:
After the incident, Uber has stopped self-driving operations in Pittsburgh, Phoenix, Toronto and San Francisco, which is a standard move, according to the company.
The police have still been investigating the case and back on Monday, the National Transportation Safety Board also declared on Tweeter that they would be sending investigators to Tempe.
Tempe Arizona police discuss Uber’s self-driving vehicle that struck, killed pedestrian
As claimed by Governor Doug Ducey's office, the office was in communication with law enforcement. And the Governor's latest Executive Order would provide strengthened enforcement measures as well as clarity on responsibility in such these crashes.
Additionally, Mark Mitchell - Tempe Mayor likewise tweeted:
In actual fact, Uber has been testing their self-driving Volvo models in Tempe since February, 2017 after they had been prohibited from California over safety risks. Previously, they were also involved in several crashes but there were no serious injuries.
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