Photo: Screenshot
Midway through this month, a Uber Volvo XC90 autonomous test car hit and fatally injured a jaywalker in Arizona, marking the first-ever pedestrian victim of a self-driving vehicle.
Elaine Herzberg, a 49-year-old Tempe resident, was involved in the deadly crash on March 18 as she was pushing her bike across the unlit road at night. The sensors onboard the Uber vehicle failed to pick her up as did the person sitting behind the wheel, who video shows was looking away from the road when it all happened.
The incident had immediate repercussions with the ride-hailing company's autonomous program quickly suspended. It didn't end there, however, as other companies did the same, including Toyota and NVIDIA. It also cast a bad image on every other player on the market, with Tesla taking a blow as well - not helped by the fact one of its vehicles was also involved in the company's second deadly Autopilot crash.
Uber would obviously like to put this behind it as quickly as possible, but with all the media's eyes turned toward it, it's finding it to be more easily said than done. A major step in that direction has just been taken, however, as the company has reportedly reached a settlement with the victim's family.
Uber representatives refused to comment, and the family is more than likely prohibited by the settlement itself to reveal its value, so we'll never know any figures. What we do know is that it's been done, as confirmed by the family's lawyer, Christina Perez Hesano, quoted by several major news networks, including the LA Times.
Everyone seems to agree more similar incidents will occur in the future and there's nothing the authorities can do about it apart from banning self-driving car tests altogether. But the cold facts show that, in the end, we should be looking at a positive balance sheet - a few lives lost during the technology development compared to thousands saved once it hits its stride. For the moment, though, Uber's license to operate its autonomous cars in Arizona has been suspended as the company decided to halt its activity in other states on its own accord.
The incident had immediate repercussions with the ride-hailing company's autonomous program quickly suspended. It didn't end there, however, as other companies did the same, including Toyota and NVIDIA. It also cast a bad image on every other player on the market, with Tesla taking a blow as well - not helped by the fact one of its vehicles was also involved in the company's second deadly Autopilot crash.
Uber would obviously like to put this behind it as quickly as possible, but with all the media's eyes turned toward it, it's finding it to be more easily said than done. A major step in that direction has just been taken, however, as the company has reportedly reached a settlement with the victim's family.
Uber representatives refused to comment, and the family is more than likely prohibited by the settlement itself to reveal its value, so we'll never know any figures. What we do know is that it's been done, as confirmed by the family's lawyer, Christina Perez Hesano, quoted by several major news networks, including the LA Times.
Everyone seems to agree more similar incidents will occur in the future and there's nothing the authorities can do about it apart from banning self-driving car tests altogether. But the cold facts show that, in the end, we should be looking at a positive balance sheet - a few lives lost during the technology development compared to thousands saved once it hits its stride. For the moment, though, Uber's license to operate its autonomous cars in Arizona has been suspended as the company decided to halt its activity in other states on its own accord.
Google News