A truck passes the location where a woman pedestrian was struck and killed by an Uber self-driving sport utility vehicle in Tempe, Arizona, U.S. March 19, 2018. REUTERS/Rick Scuteri
WASHINGTON: The death of a woman in Arizona struck by a self-driving car with no human control, the first fatality involving a fully autonomous vehicle, is an event the nascent industry has long dreaded and comes at a sensitive time.
Monday's accident involving an Uber Technologies Inc car is shaping up as the first significant test of how policy makers and the public will respond to the new technology. The incident occurred as companies have been pushing for regulatory clearance to offer self-driving car ride services as soon as next year. On Friday, Uber and Alphabet Inc's Waymo car unit had written US senators urging them to approve sweeping self-driving car legislation "in the coming weeks."
