Uber Car Kills Woman In First Pedestrian Death By Self-Driving Vehicle

An Arizona woman was killed by a self-driving Uber vehicle Monday morning, ABC-15 in Phoenix reported.

The woman died at the hospital after the car struck her while walking through an intersection in Tempe, Arizona, a suburb of Phoenix. The car was in its autonomous driving mode at the time of the accident, though a human was also behind the wheel.

According to the Guardian, this was the first known pedestrian death by a self-driving car. As a result, the ride-sharing company halted its autonomous driving in Toronto, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Phoenix until further notice.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi tweeted support for the unidentified victim’s family.

Uber said it in a statement that it would work with Tempe police in its investigation. Uber would not comment on how long autonomous driving would be suspended.

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family,” Uber said in its statement. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident.”

Uber first rolled out self-driving cars in 2016. Not long after, the company was hit with controversy when Uber’s autonomous cabs were caught running red lights, an error Uber blamed on human drivers, not technology. California authorities ordered the cars be taken off roads until they were safer.

In 2017, a self-driving Volvo SUV was involved in an accident in Tempe that caused no injuries but nonetheless prompted Uber to pause its automatic car service.

Monday's accident was the first time a self-driving car killed a pedestrian. In 2016, the driver of a self-driving Tesla vehicle was killed after he repeatedly ignored the car’s warnings to get his hands on the wheel.