News Enter: Police In Arizona Release Dashcam Video Of Fatal Crash Involving Self-Driving Car

Police In Arizona Release Dashcam Video Of Fatal Crash Involving Self-Driving Car

By Jessica Harington, March 22, 2018 

As federal investigators begin to examine a pedestrian fatality involving a self-driving Uber Technologies Inc. car this week, Americas car insurers are watching closely.

Car insurers haul in roughly $230 billion of premiums a year, but much of that intake could evaporate in coming decades, say some consultants, assuming crucial breakthroughs in driverless technology that would eliminate the many wrecks caused by human error.

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Authorities investigating a deadly self-driving vehicle crash in suburban Phoenix have released video of the Uber SUV striking a pedestrian as she walked her bicycle across a darkened street.

The footage also shows the backup driver in the SUV looking downward for several seconds before the crash. The driver looked up and appeared startled during the last moment of the clip.

Investigators looking into the crash of an Uber self-driving car that struck and killed a woman crossing a road in Tempe, Arizona, earlier this week have released unsettling dashcam video of the incident.

The SUVs lights didnt illuminate the woman until a second or two before impact, raising questions about whether the vehicle could have stopped in time.

In an exterior camera view, the Volvo XC90 SUV test vehicle is seen traveling the partially lit road when a woman, identified as 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, suddenly appears in the headlights as she walks a bicycle across the vehicles lane. The fatal impact occurs in a split second.

The crash Sunday night in Tempe was the first death involving a fully autonomous test vehicle.

Another camera mounted inside the car is trained on the Uber safety driver, identified by Tempe police as Rafael Vasquez, 44, whose job is to take over the operation of the vehicle if necessary. The drivers gaze seems divided between something inside the car and the road. His eyes appear to be diverted from road for about four or five seconds before he looks up with a startled expression less than a second before the impact.
these cars should be off the road until laws are passed and its clear the manufacturer of the, AI is 100% responsible for the consequences of failure. The Driver is responsible for his or her or Its actions. Since the manufacturer of the, AI claim these cars are viable drivers, then they should be liable for the mistakes, just like every other driver. if the manufacturers is protected or the liability imposed on an owner then the cars, should be pulled off the road. an owner cant be held responsible for AI the owner had nothing to do with creating and doesnt control.

Sunday nights fatal crash near Mill Avenue and Curry Road in Tempe marks the first pedestrian death involving an autonomous vehicle.

Sergei Lemberg, a California-based lawyer who has brought several lawsuits against self-driving car manufacturers, said that Uber, Volvo, which manufactured the sport utility vehicle, and any companies that supplied self-driving technology could potentially be held liable if litigation ensued from the Tempe accident. The “safety” driver who was behind the wheel but who appears not to have operated the vehicle could also be named as a defendant, Lemberg said.

Uber called the video released Wednesday “disturbing and heartbreaking to watch,” in a statement to The San Francisco Chronicle, adding “our thoughts continue to be with Elaines loved ones.”

The vehicle was traveling at 38 mph at the time of the impact on a stretch of road that police say is a 35-mph zone.

Following the crash, Vasquez reportedly told Tempe Police Chief Sylvia Moir that “it was like a flash, the person walked out in front.” He said that “the first alert of the collision was the sound of the collision.”

However, experts suggested that the technology employed in the Uber test vehicle should have been able to detect Herzberg and avoid a crash.

“The victim did not come out of nowhere. Shes moving on a dark road, but its an open road, so lidar (laser) and radar should have detected and classified her” as human, Bryant Walker Smith, a University of South Carolina law professor who studies autonomous vehicles, tells The Associated Press.

“It absolutely should have been able to pick her up,” Sam Ambuelsmaid, an analyst at Navigant Research who follows self-driving technology, tells the AP. “From what I can see in the video, it sure looks like the car is at fault, not the pedestrian.”

Soon after the crash, Moir was quoted in an article by The Chronicle as saying she believed the Uber driver was not at fault even though her department had yet to make such a determination. Wednesdays statement said, “Chief Moir and the Tempe Police Department would like to reaffirm that fault has not been determined in this case.”

In a statement released with the video, the Tempe Police Department said its investigation of the incident “will address the operating condition of the vehicle, driver interaction with the vehicle, and opportunities for the vehicle or driver to detect the pedestrian that was struck.”

The department said as part of its investigation, it was cooperating with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Uber and that it would be looking into the technology aboard the vehicle and all its electronic data.

In its statement, Uber said: “Our cars remain grounded, and were assisting local, state and federal authorities in any way we can.”

Original story: At News Enter