Uber?s fatal Arizona crash is a call to action for cities What you will hear the most about Elaine Herzberg, a homeless resident of Tempe, Arizona, who was struck and killed by one of Uber?s autonomous vehicles when she attempted to walk her bike across an eight-lane street, is that she was not using the crosswalk.
?A female walking outside of the crosswalk,? noted the initial police statement. ?As soon as she walked into the lane of traffic, she was struck by the vehicle,? reported the sergeant giving a press conference.
?The driver said it was like a flash, the person walked out in front of them,? said Tempe police chief Sylvia Moir. ?It is dangerous to cross roadways in the evening hour when well-illuminated, managed crosswalks are available.? The chief of Tempe?s police department went on to tell the San Francisco Chronicle that ?Uber would likely not be at fault,? even though the preliminary police investigation determined that the car was speeding?going 38 mph in a 35 mph zone when the crash occurred.
Arizona has the highest rate of pedestrian deaths in the nation. Ten pedestrians were killed in the state just in the past week. Last Tuesday, three seniors were killed by a single driver in nearby Scottsdale. They were all walking in marked crosswalks.
The fact that the state is so deadly for walkers is not a coincidence. The same factor that is responsible for Arizona?s high number of pedestrian deaths is the very same reason Uber is testing there?the state pri...