Tempe Police
Uber reaches a settlement with the family of pedestrian killed by its self-driving car
Fatal accident is still being investigated
Fatal accident is still being investigated
Uber has agreed to a settlement with the family of Elaine Herzberg, the 49-year-old woman involved in a fatal accident with one of the company's self-driving cars on March 18.
Herzberg was pushing her bicycle across a highway in Tempe, AZ at 10 pm when an Uber SUV, with a human monitor in the front seat, hit her. Her death is being considered as one of the first fatalities involving a self-driving car.
While the details around the settlement have not been released, Herzberg's daughter and her husband have agreed to the terms of the deal, according to Reuters.
Video of the accident released just three days after the accident by Tempe Police shows Herzberg walking across the four-lane street moments before the self-driving Volvo XC90 struck her. A camera inside the car also shows the human monitor who appears shocked and surprised when he sees Herzberg come into view. He also appears to not be watching the road in the seconds leading up to the impact.
Uber had been testing its self-driving cars in states across the U.S. including Arizona, California, Pennsylvania and also in Toronto. The company stopped all autonomous testing immediately following the accident, and has also let its permit lapse in California.
California's Department of Motor Vehicles also sent Uber's public affairs manager Austin Heyworth a letter on March 27 stating Uber will not be allowed to test its autonomous vehicles on roads in the state as of March 31, because of not renewing the permit.
The National Transportation Safety Board, the National Highway Traffic Administration, as well as the Tempe Police Vehicular Crimes Unit are still investigating the accident.
Toyota also suspended its own self-driving tests after Uber's accident, even as other carmakers are pushing forward with their own autonomous plans. Those companies include Waymo, which just this week said it's adding 20,000 self-driving Jaguar I-Pace SUVs to its fleet of self-driving cars. Waymo stated it intends to get its autonomous ride-sharing service started this year in Arizona — without any human driver or monitor in the front seat.
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