Tempe Police Release Video Of Fatal Crash Involving Self-Driving Uber Car
TEMPE (CBS SF) – Police in Tempe, Arizona on Wednesday released dashcam video from the self-driving Uber vehicle that was involved in the fatal collision with a pedestrian early Monday morning.
The woman was killed as she was walking across the street with a bicycle in an area without a crosswalk.
Authorities said there was a person behind the wheel, but the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash.
"She was transported to a local area hospital where she passed away from her injuries," Tempe police said.
Police later identified the victim as 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg.
In the clip which was edited to stop at the moment just before impact, the street-view of the dashboard camera shows the vehicle moving quickly down the dark street lit only by the car's headlights.
The vehicle suddenly comes upon the woman walking her bike across the street. The car was traveling at approximately 40 miles per hour at the time of impact, according to police.
There was an emergency back-up driver inside, but they were unable to stop the car in time.
An interior camera shows the back-up driver looking down away from the road before looking up with a surprised and shocked expression just at the point of impact.
The Uber employee behind the wheel was 44-year-old Rafael Vasquez.
The death is said to be the first ever involving self-driving technology. Uber halted all of its self-driving car testing operations after the fatal accident.
Police in Tempe and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the fatal collision.