The first pedestrian killed by an autonomous car
In Tempe, Arizona, an Uber test vehicle struck and killed Elaine Herzberg as she crossed the road outside a crossing.
Why it matters
The first death involving an autonomous system moved the industry from promises to safety procedures.
The system detected the pedestrian 5.6 seconds before impact but never accurately classified her as a pedestrian or predicted her path. The system design precluded emergency braking for collision mitigation and relied on a human supervisor, who was at that time looking at her phone. The NTSB named as probable cause the operator's failure to monitor the road; contributing were Uber ATG's inadequate safety risk assessment, oversight of operators and safety culture, the pedestrian's crossing outside a crosswalk, and the Arizona Department of Transportation's insufficient oversight. Uber ATG ceased its Tempe operations in May 2018.