Uber has been testing driverless cars for a few years now and recently started inviting different states around the country to test their robotic vehicles on the state’s roads. Unfortunately, this past week, an Uber operated car, with an emergency backup driver behind the wheel struck and killed a pedestrian at an intersection on Mill Avenue in Temple, Ariz.
Due to the fact that this is the first accident, it’s a reminder that self-driving technology is still in experimental stage. Once the incident occurred, Uber immediately suspended self-driving testing in Temple, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.  Companies believe that eventually self-driving cars will be safer than regular cars because they take easily distracted humans out of the driving equation. Personally, I find that hard to believe right now especially just after this individuals death, but also because there are so many unpredictable situations a driver can face and a self-driving car isn’t going to be able to make a decision within seconds.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in 2016, 37,461 people died in traffic-related accidents in the United States. The self-driving car that struck the pedestrians was said to be moving around 40 miles per hour. The woman had been walking with her bicycle on the street. Officials said it did not appear as though the car had slowed down before impact and that the Uber safety driver had shown no signs of impairment. The weather that day was clear and dry.

Wakabayashi, Daisuke. “Self-Driving Uber Car Kills Arizona Pedestrian.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 Mar. 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/03/19/technology/uber-driverless-fatality.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/technology&action=click&contentCollection=technology®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront