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Uber Autonomous Car Strikes and Kills Woman in Arizona

Late last night in Tempe, Arizona, where Uber is running a trial of autonomous cars, one of their self-driving SUVs struck a woman who was crossing the street (apparently outside of the crosswalk, according to a police report quoted by Reuters). The victim, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, apparently did not die at the scene, but was transported to a hospital before she died.

Police report that there was actually a driver behind the wheel of the autonomous car at the time, but that the car was in autonomous mode.

No other details of the crash were provided at press time, but Uber has reportedly suspended “its North American tests,” the wording of which would seem to imply that any trials on other continents might be ongoing.

This is thought to be the first human fatality caused by an autonomous car striking someone.