Police in the US have released a video of the first self-driving car crash that killed a pedestrian late last week.

The video shows how the driverless Uber car fatally hit a 49-year-old woman walking her bike across the street in Tempe, Arizona, on Sunday night.

Go deeper with GlobalData

Data Insights

The gold standard of business intelligence.

Find out more

Elaine Herzberg, 49, died in hospital after being hit by the car and the dashcam video shows the dark road and a woman walking across it as the car gets closer but fails to stop.

Uber — the ride-hailing app that has caused problems for regulators and traditional taxi firms around the world and has begun to experiment with self-driving cars –immediately halted all of its autonomous car testing after the collision.

The video also shows the on board operator Rafaela Vasquez appearing to look at something inside the vehicle and not the road in the seconds leading up to the collision.

Read more: A short history of self-driving car crashes

How well do you really know your competitors?

Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.

Company Profile – free sample

Thank you!

Your download email will arrive shortly

Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample

We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form

By GlobalData
Visit our Privacy Policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information of your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address.

The first fatal collision from driverless car technology has raised questions around whether they should be tested on the open roads.

Uber has revealed that neither the car involved nor the human driver behind the wheel hit the brakes when Herzberg stepped into the road.

After the collision the car continued travelling at 38 miles per hour, according to the Tempe police chief Sylvia Moir. The speed limit where the accident occurred is 35 miles per hour.

Moir has suggested in an interview that Uber wasn’t at fault for the collision but local prosecutors will decide whether criminal charges are warranted.

A recent study by non-profit organisation Rand Corporation concluded that self-driving cars that perform just 10% better than human drivers would save thousands of lives.

Nidhi Kalra, co-author of the study and director of Rand’s San Francisco office, said:

Our work suggests that it is sensible to allow autonomous vehicles on America’s roads when they are judged to be just moderately safer than having a person behind the wheel. If we wait until these vehicles are nearly perfect, our research suggests the cost will be many thousands of needless vehicle crash deaths caused by human mistakes. It’s the very definition of perfect being the enemy of good.