The police in Arizona released a short video clip on Wednesday of the fatal collision between an autonomous Uber vehicle and a pedestrian while the case is being investigated, which has put a new focus on the safety of driverless cars.
The video was recorded from inside the Volvo XC90 that Uber used for testing and shows the car moving down a dark road when a woman pushing a bicycle suddenly appears.
Elaine Herzberg (49) later died from her injuries.
This is the first fatal incident involving driverless cars that are still being tested worldwide and could slow the introduction of such traffic on American roads.
The police revealed few details about the incident that occurred on Sunday evening in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix, Arizona, while the vehicle was in autonomous mode, but with a person behind the wheel monitoring the drive. Uber halted testing of such rides in North America after the accident, and federal regulators are conducting an investigation.
The video shows the vehicle moving in the right lane on a four-lane road. Then, a lit woman is shown crossing into the car’s lane while pushing her bicycle.
The video will likely be a key part of the investigation into Uber’s autonomous driving technology and determining whether it is ready for public traffic.
The footage also shows the interior of the vehicle and the driver looking down, not at the road. Moments before the end of the clip, the driver looks at the road and suddenly appears shocked.
“The video is disturbing and painful to watch, and our thoughts are still with Elaine’s loved ones,” Uber stated.
“Our cars are still not driving, and we are assisting local, state, and federal authorities in any way we can,” the company added.
The video will likely be a key part of the investigation into Uber’s autonomous driving technology and determining whether it is ready for public traffic.
Although the details of Uber’s technology are unknown, autonomous vehicles primarily use a combination of sensors, including radar and Lidar, a light-based sensor that can function in the dark, to identify objects around the vehicle.
Regulators are addressing why the sensors did not register Herzberg’s presence, who had to cross three lanes before entering the one where Uber’s vehicle was.
Bryant Walker Smith, an expert on autonomous vehicles, said his first impression after watching the footage was “fury.”
“Although this video does not show the complete picture, it strongly suggests a fault in Uber’s autonomous system and a lack of attention from both Uber’s driver and the victim,” Smith, a law professor at the University of South Carolina, noted, agreeing with expert Raj Rajkumar.
“The sensors should have registered the cyclist in this case. The cameras were likely useless, but radar and Lidar should have detected her,” said the professor from Carnegie Mellon.
“Although information is not available, based solely on this video footage, the conclusion arises that there are issues in Uber’s software that need to be corrected,” he concluded.
