The National Transportation Safety Board released a report from the investigation into the death of a pedestrian caused by Uber’s self-driving car.
In March, Elaine Herzberg was struck by a self-driving car in Arizona and died. The car’s emergency break system is not enabled for computer control while driving to reduce the potential for erratic vehicle behavior, with human backup drivers to intervene in potential emergencies, but doesn’t alert drivers.
The NTSB report shows that on second before the crash, the driver began steering and started to break a second after impact. The report doesn’t determine fault, but rather the operations by the computer.
The report also shows that the pedestrian was crossing the street with her bike at night on a road with little lighting and was wearing black clothing. These conditions reportedly interfered with the self-driving car to recognize the pedestrian better.
Since this incident, Uber has shut down the testing of self-driving cars in Phoenix, but will continue in Philadelphia.
