The Guardian
Self-driving cars
'Uber should be shut down': friends of self-driving car crash victim seek justice
Loved ones are in shock over the death of Elaine Herzberg in Arizona, but questions remain as to whether Uber will be held accountable
Self-driving Uber kills woman in first fatal pedestrian crash
Sam Levin in San Francisco @SamTLevin
Email
Wed 21 Mar 2018 00.25 GMT
Last modified on Wed 21 Mar 2018 00.26 GMT
Shares
69
Pilot models of Uber’s self-driving car fleet. The Arizona crash marks the first known fatal collision between an autonomous car and a pedestrian.Pilot models of Uber’s self-driving car fleet. The Arizona crash marks the first known fatal collision between an autonomous car and a pedestrian. Photograph: Angelo Merendino/AFP/Getty Images
Friends of the first known pedestrian to be killed by a self-driving car have called for Uber to be held accountable as questions mount about how the autonomous technology failed to stop the vehicle from hitting a human in its path.
Two days after an Uber SUV fatally struck the 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona, while traveling in autonomous mode, friends of the victim have argued that the ride-share company should face consequences and criticized government officials for encouraging car companies to test the vehicles on the state’s public roads.
“This shouldn’t have ever happened,” said Carole Kimmerle, a Mesa resident who said she had been friends with Herzberg for more than 10 years and had previously lived with her. “I think this should be a negligent homicide … and the government should also be held accountable.”
Elaine Herzberg had struggled with homelessness, but was turning her life around, friends say.
Elaine Herzberg had struggled with homelessness, but was turning her life around, friends say. Photograph: Courtesy of Carole Kimmerle
Herzberg’s loved ones said they were still in shock on Tuesday after police announced that the Uber car, an SUV Volvo, was driving roughly 40 miles per hour on its own and did not appear to slow down when it collided with the victim, who was walking her bicycle in front of the car at 10pm on Sunday. There was a human operator in the front seat, but police said the car was in autonomous mode, which meant the radar technology may not have detected the pedestrian or the vehicle did not stop for another reason.
Tempe police said Herzberg was not in a crosswalk when she was hit, though some have argued that the car still should have stopped. Uber said it was temporarily pausing its self-driving operations in Phoenix and other cities, but the company has not commented on the cause of the crash.
Advertisement
As federal investigators have begun their inquiry, local police officials have appeared to cast blame on the victim, saying Uber may not have been at fault, sparking further backlash from the woman’s friends.
“Uber should be shut down for it,” one friend, Deniel Klapthor, told the Guardian. “There has to be a bigger punishment than not allowing them to drive it on the street.”
Kimmerle added, “She was not in anyway unsafe. She rode a bike everywhere. She was very cautious of the laws.”
Herzberg had struggled with homelessness, according to her friends, who said she had recently turned her life around and was in the process of starting a new job.
If her family were to pursue a civil case, attorneys could potentially make a range of negligence claims, said Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant professor at the University of South Carolina and a legal expert on autonomous cars.
Depending on what might have gone wrong, the victim’s family could argue that a number of players were liable, including the car maker, the operator behind the wheel, the manufacturers of various specific technologies, and Uber itself, he said.
“The attorney would want to say to a hypothetical jury, ‘These are really scary systems. They demand the utmost care and responsibility.’ And the lawyer would suggest that’s not the case here,” said Smith.
Ryan Calo, a University of Washington law professor and self-driving expert, predicted the company would try to resolve any case quickly and privately: “Uber will settle this immediately for an undisclosed amount of money.”
Who's driving? Autonomous cars may be entering the most dangerous phase
Read more
The first reported fatal self-driving car crash happened in 2016 when a Tesla in “autopilot” did not detect a white truck in its path. There have since been a series of high-profile incidents involving Teslas, Ubers and other companies, and some have raised concerns that even if self-driving technology is a safer mode of travel, the industry is entering a particularly dangerous phase of development when the vehicles aren’t yet fully autonomous and require humans to intervene.
Arizona has lured self-driving car operators to the state by arguing it has fewer regulations than other jurisdictions – a fact that upset Herzberg’s friends, who said the government should have done more to prevent these kinds of crashes.
“In Tempe, they’re everywhere,” said Jerry Higgins, another friend of Herzberg, who said he keeps his eye on the self-driving cars and said he was struggling to understand how the collision occurred: “Don’t they have a driver in the car that’s supposed to keep stuff like this from happening? … I don’t see how they didn’t work something like this into the programs.”
Herzberg loved to read and write and was always generous and offering to help others even when she was dealing with her own struggles, said Kimmerle.
“She was very loving,” she said. “The world lost a good person.”
Contact the author: sam.levin@theguardian.com
Topics
Self-driving cars
Uber
Arizona
Share on LinkedIn
Share on Pinterest
Share on Google+
related stories
Self-driving Uber kills Arizona woman in first fatal crash involving pedestrian
Published: 19 Mar 2018
Self-driving Uber kills Arizona woman in first fatal crash involving pedestrian
Uber allowed to continue self-driving car project but must return files to Waymo
Published: 15 May 2017
Uber allowed to continue self-driving car project but must return files to Waymo
Uber suspends fleet of self-driving cars following Arizona crash
Published: 26 Mar 2017
Uber suspends fleet of self-driving cars following Arizona crash
Uber packs up failed self-driving car trial in California and moves to Arizona
Published: 22 Dec 2016
Uber packs up failed self-driving car trial in California and moves to Arizona
Uber cancels self-driving car trial in San Francisco after state forces it off road
Published: 22 Dec 2016
Uber cancels self-driving car trial in San Francisco after state forces it off road
Uber admits to self-driving car 'problem' in bike lanes as safety concerns mount
Published: 19 Dec 2016
329
Uber admits to self-driving car 'problem' in bike lanes as safety concerns mount
California threatens legal action against Uber unless it halts self-driving cars
Published: 17 Dec 2016
264
California threatens legal action against Uber unless it halts self-driving cars
Uber blames humans for self-driving car traffic offenses as California orders halt
Published: 15 Dec 2016
1,179
Uber blames humans for self-driving car traffic offenses as California orders halt
promoted linksfrom around the web
Recommended by OutbrainAbout this Content
Eliminating Blind Spots – Why Visibility is Key Eliminating Blind Spots – Why Visibility is Key CIO
Avoiding Vendor Lock-In Carries a Variety of Benefits and Challenges CIO
Most viewed
Facebook: is it time we all deleted our accounts?
WhatsApp co-founder joins call to #DeleteFacebook as fallout intensifies
Child abuse imagery found within bitcoin's blockchain
'Uber should be shut down': friends of self-driving car crash victim seek justice
How to protect your Facebook privacy – or delete yourself completely
Self-driving Uber kills Arizona woman in first fatal crash involving pedestrian
Twitter not protecting women from abuse, says Amnesty
Bento the Keyboard Cat, internet sensation and YouTube star, dies
The great British Brexit robbery: how our democracy was hijacked
Denmark split as row over teenage Facebook sex video widens
This article is over 1 month old
World
UK
Science
Cities
Global development
Football
Tech
Business
Environment
Obituaries
back to top
become a supporter
make a contribution
securedrop
help
advertise with us
work for us
contact us
complaints & corrections
terms & conditions
privacy policy
cookie policy
digital newspaper archive
all topics
all contributors
Facebook
Twitter
© 2018 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment