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New Delhi, March 22: Earlier this week, a self-driving Uber knocked down a woman as she crossed the street in Arizona. The woman later succumbed to her injuries. This is being reported as the first fatality in the US state that allowed the testing of autonomous driving. Elaine Herzberg was crossing the street with her bicycle on the evening of Monday, March 19, when the self-driving car, a Volvo, mowed her down. There is speculation over why the vehicle did not stop when it sensed a human ahead of it.
Videos released by the local police have revealed that the human behind the wheel, 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez, kept alternating between looking at something under the dashboard, and looking ahead. She was looking down at the time of the crash and was shocked when she realised her car had mowed down someone.
The video also revealed that it was in autonomous mode but was cruising at 45mph in a 35mph zone. According to a report in The Guardian, Uber has temporarily suspended the self-driving programme but was yet to comment on the cause of the crash. Technology experts insist that self-driving cars are a safer option. However, skeptics feel that humans are treading a dangerous path with self-driving cars as these aren’t fully autonomous even as they put human drivers at ease, leaving them a little distracted and not completely engaged. This, they feel, allows for such slips to happen, leading to fatality.
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