Uber lands in hot water after its self-driving car kills woman

American transport service Uber has got into trouble after its self-driving car hit and killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona on Sunday.

The victim was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, where she succumbed to her injuries. The police have identified the victim as 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg.

In response to the accident, the American transport service Uber has suspended all of its self-driving cars in Toronto, Arizona, San Franciso and Pittsburg. “We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this accident,” the company told The Verge.

The car was confirmed to be in autonomous mode with a safety driver behind the wheel. Autonomous mode means the vehicle was driving on its own.

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The operator was the only person sitting inside the vehicle when the crash took place and was not injured, according to an Uber spokesperson. However, further details about the female operator were not disclosed by the company. The car still remains under police possession.

After the investigations, the chief of the Tempe Police, Sylvia Moir told the San Francisco Chronicle that the vehicle is possibly not responsible for the crash. “I suspect preliminarily it appears that the Uber would likely not be at fault in this accident,” he said. The deceased “abruptly walked from a center median into a lane of traffic.”

America’s sixth largest state Arizona has welcomed companies testing self-driving cars in hopes of economic growth. Tempe Mayor, Mark Mitchell called the company’s decision to pull off their autonomous vehicles from roads as “responsible”. He also supports self-driving car tests owing to the technology’s promising future.

Even though Uber’s self-driving vehicle is fully equipped with technology to detect pedestrians or other vehicles on the road, the reason for the crash still remains unclear. The incident will possibly fire up debate among technology experts, regulators and the auto industry.