Police on Wednesday released showing inside and outside a self-driving Uber vehicle just before colliding with and killing a pedestrian walking her bike across a street this past weekend in Tempe, Ariz.
The video, from the local police department, shows that a person was riding inside the vehicle, but was not looking at the road before the deadly collision with 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. The crash occurred at approximately 10 p.m. on Sunday.
“The video is disturbing and heartbreaking to watch, and our thoughts continue to be with Elaine’s loved ones,” an Uber spokeswoman said in a statement. “Our cars remain grounded, and we’re assisting local, state and federal authorities in any way we can.”
BREAKING #Tempe police release video of final moments before @Uber driverless car hit & killed pedestrian. It doesn’t include collision itself. Your reactions?#12News pic.twitter.com/PyIaoqmesB
— BrahmResnik (@brahmresnik) March 21, 2018
The crash near Phoenix marked the first death tied to a fully autonomous test vehicle.
Uber has since halted testing the self-driving vehicles in four American cities as police and federal investigators seek more details related to the incident.
“Our city leadership and Tempe police will pursue any and all answers to what happened in order to ensure safety moving forward,” Tempe Mayor Mark Mitchell said. “I support the step that Uber has taken to temporarily suspend testing in Tempe until this event is fully examined.”
Tempe, Ariz., where Arizona State University is located, has supported testing technology of driverless cars because of the impact it could have on highway safety and reducing threats of distracted or drunk driving.
Charges related to the incident have not been filed and Tempe police said they are conducting an investigation. The Maricopa County Attorney’s office will receive the findings of the investigation.
Uber announced this week it will comply with local and federal investigators.
