Uber, the large chauffeur-driven transportation company, has halted its self-driving car program in Arizona following the March 18 accident in which a woman was run over and killed in Tempe, near Phoenix. The company said “this is the best choice as we work to get back on the road as quickly as possible.” At the end of March, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, who had always been very supportive of experimenting with self-driving cars, suspended Uber testing.
The incident in which the woman – 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg – died took place on the evening of March 18 in Tempe, Arizona. The woman was crossing a street at night, in a poorly lit area, and was hit by an Uber SUV equipped with self-driving technology. A video of the incident released by the police showed that the person who was in the car and who was supposed to intervene in an emergency – as required by Uber's testing rules – was distracted shortly before the accident (although it is unlikely. that could have avoided it).
