A tragic self-driving Uber car accident recently killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. This is not the first time a self-driving Uber car has been involved in an accident, but it’s the first fatality recorded by the operation. Uber has since paused its self-driving car service in Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto, as well as in Phoenix as the incident is investigated and the technology that operates this type of service is examined more closely.
Summary of The Self-Driving Uber Car Accident
Around 10:00 PM, a self-driving Uber car hit a woman who was walking her bike across the road. She was taken to a hospital where she later died due to her injuries. According to reports, she was not crossing the road in a crosswalk and she came out of the median of the street into the pathway of the vehicle. The “safety driver,” or the human driver in the car stated that he did not see the victim until the accident had happened.
That night in Tempe, the weather was clear and dry, and there were no visibility issues on the road. The data retrieved from the self-driving car, which was in autonomous mode, recorded that it was going about 38MPH on a street with a 45MPH speed limit, but there were no signs of slowing down as the car hit the victim. The driver was not impaired.
Uber’s Self-Driving Car Technology
The self-driving cars used by Uber use lidar technology, which means that they use lasers and radar, as opposed to computer vision, to help guide the vehicle down the road. These sensors gather data on nearby objects, such as the size and rate of speed of those objects, and then categorize them based on how they are likely to behave. For example, the sensors will predict that they may be pedestrians crossing in the street ahead based on the size and rate of speed of the objects moving in front of the car.
Despite the fact that these types of vehicles operate in an autonomous mode, there is always a human driver inside the car to take over if there is an issue with the self-driving function. This driver should be paying attention to the road at all times.
Safety of Self-Driving Cars
According to the National Safety Council, a pedestrian is killed by a car roughly every 90 minutes in the U.S. Moreover, it is estimated that 90 percent of the 40,000 traffic fatalities last year were caused by human error. With self-driving vehicles, automakers are eliminating many of the human errors that cause fatalities on the road. Therefore, despite this tragic accident, these types of vehicles may still prove to be a safe mode of transportation once additional kinks are worked out in the systems that power them.
Problems with Self-Driving Cars
Currently, the biggest problem with self-driving vehicles is that some drivers may feel lulled into a false sense of security. These vehicles still require an alert human driver who is aware of his or her surroundings. The autonomous feature is not completely fail-proof. Because a car is autonomous does not mean that a driver should get behind the wheel impaired, distracted, or drowsy. Drivers are still responsible for being alert and taking over the system if the vehicle doesn’t recognize a hazard.
Liability in Car Accidents
In the state of Florida, we utilize comparative negligence in liability cases. This means that if the plaintiff (i.e., the injured party pursuing a claim) is to blame for any of the accident, the value of the case or apportionment of the case will be affected by their actions based on the percentage of responsibility they bear for the accident.
For example, a jury can determine that the defendant is 80 percent at fault (or any other percentage) and the plaintiff is 20 percent at fault. Therefore, the damages awarded to the plaintiff will be 80 percent of the case.
In this case, it has not yet been determined if Uber is completely liable for the accident.
If you are involved in an accident, it’s important to contact an experienced car accident and personal injury attorney who can help you determine how to pursue a liability case and potentially recover both economic and noneconomic losses from your accident.
References:
Griggs, T., & Wakabayashi, D. (2018, March 20). How a Self-Driving Uber Killed a Pedestrian in Arizona. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://nytimes.com/interactive/2018/03/20/us/self-driving-uber-pedestrian-killed.html
Then 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg was struck, & Killed a self-driving Uber in Tempe. (n.d.). Self-driving cars are already really safe. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/21/technology/self-driving-car-safety/index.html
Kissler, M., Levin, A., & Beene, R. (2018, March 20). Uber Victim Stepped Suddenly in Front of Self-Driving Car. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-20/video-shows-woman-stepped-suddenly-in-front-of-self-driving-uber
Solon, O. (2018, January 24). Who’s driving? Autonomous cars may be entering the most dangerous phase. Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://theguardian.com/technology/2018/jan/24/self-driving-cars-dangerous-period-false-security
Bogost, I. (2018, March 20). Can You Sue a Robocar? Retrieved March 22, 2018, from https://theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/03/can-you-sue-a-robocar/556007/
