Uber grounds Pittsburgh self-driving fleet after bicyclist killed in Arizona crash
Uber grounded its fleets of self-driving cars Monday, including SUVs on the road in Pittsburgh, after a woman was hit and killed by one of the company's cars Sunday in Tempe, Ariz.
Elaine Herzberg, 49, was walking her bicycle across a street outside of a crosswalk when the Uber struck her, Tempe police told the Tribune-Review. Herzberg was taken to a hospital where she died from her injuries.
This is the first reported pedestrian killed by a self-driving car.
It is also the first fatal crash involving a self-driving Uber.
"Some incredibly sad news out of Arizona," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted. "We're thinking of the victim's family as we work with local law enforcement to understand what happened."
Uber suspended its self-driving operations in Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto following the crash.
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. https://t.co/cwTCVJjEuz
" dara khosrowshahi (@dkhos) March 19, 2018
The crash happened about 10 p.m. Sunday, according to police.
As the Uber SUV was driving Herzberg was crossing the road from its left, police said.
The Uber SUV was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash, and a person was behind the wheel.
Elise Sanguinetti, a California personal injury and trial attorney who has pushed for more regulation of self-driving cars, said she hopes Herzberg's death slows down the development and widespread deployment of self-driving cars until there are rules and laws in place to protect people in and around the vehicles.
"We're moving so fast on this trying to get this technology on the road," said Sanguinetti, who will take over as president of the American Association for Justice this year. "I think everybody needs to look at this crash and be thinking we need to put safety first."
The crash could open up legal questions for Uber and other companies pursuing self-driving cars.
Uber could be found at fault in the crash, or one of the equipment or technology suppliers Uber uses in its self-driving cars could be at fault.
Herzberg's family could make a civil claim against Uber, or the company could try to force the family into arbitration as it does for lawsuits filed against the ride-sharing side of its business, Sanguinetti said.
With the number of cameras and sensors aboard the self-driving Uber, the company and police will have lots of data to review about the crash, Sanguinetti said.
She hopes Uber makes that data public.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board tweeted it was sending a team to Tempe to investigate.
This is Uber's second major crash in Tempe involving a self-driving SUV.
A car crashed into an autonomous Uber about a year ago, rolling the SUV on its side. Uber suspended its testing in Tempe, San Francisco and Pittsburgh following that crash.
A self-driving Uber in Pittsburgh was involved in a fender bender in September. The company determined neither the vehicle operator nor the self-driving software were at fault.
Pittsburgh's only other reported crash involving a self-driving vehicle happened in January when a box truck struck an Argo AI self-driving car broadside.
Uber first started testing self-driving cars in Pittsburgh in 2016. By September of that year, it launched a pilot program in Pittsburgh to offer rides in self-driving Volvo SUVs to Uber customers. Uber expanded its testing of self-driving cars to Tempe and San Francisco. The company started testing cars in Toronto when it opened an artificial intelligence lab there.
Uber announced in September that its self-driving cars logged more than 1 million miles in its first year. The fleet drove 1 million more miles 100 days later.
A man was killed in May 2016 when his Tesla, operating in its semi-autonomous Autopilot mode, crashed into a semitrailer.
Aaron Aupperlee is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at aaupperlee@tribweb.com, 412-336-8448 or via Twitter @tinynotebook.
