Self-driving Uber death car ‘spotted pedestrian SIX seconds before mowing down and killing her’
THE driverless Uber car that crashed into and killed a mum-of-two spotted her SIX seconds before hitting her.
But the vehicle did not stop because the automatic brake system had been disabled, claim investigators.
Elaine Herzberg, 49, was hit by the car driving in "autonomous mode" while she crossed a road with her bike in Tempe, Arizona.
Police released the dramatic clip, which shows Ms Herzberg wheeling her bicycle along a dimly lit road in the moments before she is hit and killed.
A report on the crash by the National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday that emergency braking is not enabled while Uber's are tested.
Alain Kornhause of Princeton University, said the system is switched off to avoid it mistaking trees for pedestrians.
He said: "It got spoofed too often.
"Instead of fixing the spoofing, they fixed the spoofing by turning it off."
Another interior camera also shows the reaction of the safety driver, who seconds before the impact is seen looking down and to the right.
She is seen looking straight ahead again when she suddenly spots Ms Herzberg - and visibly gasps in shock before the footage cuts.
Herzberg was struck by the Volvo 4x4 at around 10pm local time on Sunday and later died from her injuries in hospital.
Tempe police is looking into the crash alongside other national traffic bodies and Uber has suspended all testing of driverless cars as it "fully cooperates" with authorities.
The company's CEO, Dara Khosrowshahi, expressed condolences on his Twitter account and said the company is working with local law enforcement on the investigation.
Volvo confirmed one of its XC90 SUVs was involved in the crash but said the software controlling the car was not its own.
US lawmakers have been debating legislation that would speed introduction of self-driving cars.
Ms Herzberg's death has sparked concerns over the safety of autonomous vehicles as they head towards more widespread use.
Democratic Senator Edward Markey, a member of the transportation committee, said in a statement: "This tragic accident underscores why we need to be exceptionally cautious when testing and deploying autonomous vehicle technologies on public roads."
Anthony Foxx, former US secretary of transportation, said the accident was a "wake up call to the entire industry and government to put a high priority on safety".
Last year Uber boss Travis Kalanick said Uber was aiming to replace drivers with robots within four years.
But the program hit a setback when an autonomous Volvo SUV ended up on its side after a crash in Tempe.
No one was badly hurt in the crash last March but Uber pulled its test vehicles off the road before later resuming trials.
Google and Tesla are among other firms developing driverless cars, which could be on Britain's motorways by 2021.
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