A woman crossing the street in Arizona was hit by a
self-driving Uber and later died, according to police.
The woman had a bicycle and was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk, according to police. She was taken to a local hospital,
where she died, according to the Tempe police department.
“Some incredibly sad news out of Arizona,” stated Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi in a Tweet. “We’re thinking of
the victim’s family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened.”
This is believed to be the first pedestrian fatality involving a car operating in fully
autonomous mode.
The car was operating in autonomous mode and there was an operator behind the wheel at the time, according to police. It is a common practice in autonomous vehicle trials to
require an operator to be behind the wheel while the car is in motion.
“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We’re fully cooperating with Tempe Police and local
authorities as they investigate this incident,” Uber said in a statement.
Uber has paused self-driving operations in Phoenix, San Francisco, Toronto and Pittsburgh.
Uber also has
self-driving trucks on the road in Arizona.
Waymo also has been testing autonomous vehicle in Arizona and the Google spinoff recently ordered thousands of hybrid minivans for its ride-hailing
service in Phoenix.
Late last year, Waymo announced that its self-driving vehicles would be tested on public roads in Arizona without a driver at the wheel.