First pedestrian killed by driverless car as autonomous Uber ploughs into woman crossing the street in Arizona
A MUM mown down crossing the street in Arizona is believed to be the first pedestrian in the world killed by a driverless car.
Police said Elaine Herzberg, 49, was hit by a self-driving Uber test car in autonomous mode with a "safety driver" behind the wheel.
She was walking her bicycle across a road in Tempe, near Phoenix, at about 10pm local time on Sunday (5am GMT) when she was struck by the Volvo 4x4 at 40mph.
The mother-of-two later died from her injuries in a hospital.
Tempe Police Sergeant Ronald Elcock said: "The pedestrian was outside of the crosswalk. As soon as she walked into the lane of traffic she was struck."
He said he did not yet know how close the car was when she stepped into the road.
Sgt Elcock said he believed Herzberg may have been homeless.
According to a Facebook page believed to be hers, Ms Herzberg became a mother at the ages of 15 and 18 and had been married three times.
She had spent time in prison in the past for minor crimes including drug offences.
Uber said it has suspended all testing of driverless cars and is "fully cooperating" with authorities.
The company's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, expressed condolences on his Twitter account and said the company is working with local law enforcement on the investigation.
Volvo confirmed one of its XC90 SUVs was involved in the crash but said the software controlling the car was not its own.
US federal safety regulators were sending teams to investigate the crash. Canada's transportation ministry in Ontario, where Uber also conducts testing, said it was reviewing the accident.
US lawmakers have been debating legislation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars.
Democratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the transportation committee, said in a statement: "This tragic accident underscores why we need to be exceptionally cautious when testing and deploying autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads."
Anthony Foxx, former US secretary of transportation, said the accident was a “wake up call to the entire industry and government to put a high priority on safety”.
Ms Herzberg's death has sparked concerns over the safety of autonomous vehicles as they head towards more widespread use.
In the UK, Gatwick Airport is planning to test self-driving shuttle buses this summer.
Last year Uber boss Travis Kalanick said Uber was aiming to replace drivers with robots within four years.
But the program hit a setback when an autonomous Volvo SUV ended up on its side after a crash in Tempe.
No one was badly hurt in the crash last March but Uber pulled its test vehicles off the road before resuming trials later.
Google and Tesla are among other firms developing driverless cars, which could be on Britain's motorways by 2021.
In July 2016, former US Navy Seal became the first person to die in a self-driving car when his Tesla Model S smashed into a tractor trailer in Florida.
Joshua Brown was reportedly watching a Harry Potter film at the time as the car was on autopilot.
The on-board computer failed to distinguish between the white truck and the bright sky, according to reports.
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