Testing gone wrong!
The new experiment with self driving vehicles has been brought to a stop after a driverless car struck a pedestrian Sunday night in Arizona. At the time of the accident, the car was being used in an experiment ran by Uber.
Before being tested, Uber secured an emergency backup driver inside the vehicle, but this was not enough to stop the car from hitting the pedestrian.
Now Arizona police are saying the pedestrian stepped out in front of the Uber vehicle, making the car “not at fault” for the accident.
According to The Mercury News, the car (which was A Volvo) had two video cameras which were reviewed by the chef of police. In the video it showed that the women came from the shadows right into the roadway, making the Uber likely to not be at fault. The police chef (Sylvia Moir) also stated that it would’ve been “difficult” for either a human or machine driver to avoid striking the pedestrian.
The idea of a driverless vehicle was invented with the intention that this self operating car will be safer than a car operated by a driver who is easily distracted.“This tragic incident makes clear that autonomous vehicle technology has a long way to go before it is truly safe for the passengers, pedestrians, and drivers who share America’s roads,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, Democrat of Connecticut.
