Solved SUV Uber´s Case
Uber’s case about the collision of a woman in Arizona a few weeks ago has had a happy solution. The Uber Company has settled an agreement with Elaine Herzberg’s family, victim of self-driving car while she was riding a bicycle and the vehicle was not able to identify in time the violation of the traffic laws made by the woman. Herzberg, 49, was hit on March 18 while crossing a dark street in Tempe, a suburb of Phoenix. So far, the amount and terms of the legal settlement between the parties are unknown. According to the AP, Herzberg’s relatives declared that the matter had been resolved. On the other part, Uber’s representatives, Sarah Abboud and Matthew Wing, responded separately that the company refused to make statements.
Before the Uber-Herzberg settlement, several speculations were created around the case, among them, in whom or who the guilt would relapse to. On one side was Elaine, who violated traffic laws; in the other one,Uber and Volvo. The first of the companies involved was the one who provided the service, while the second was the supplier manufacturer of the self-driving car used by Uber’s services. The collision became the first fateful accident between a pedestrian and an autonomous vehicle in the United States.
Between Uber and Volvo there were discrepancies in who would pay the guilt. Uber hid behind the fact that the car company did not have an efficient technology, while Volvo argued that they did not provide the car’s technology or the software, therefore it was beyond their reach. The truth is that at the same time this happened the retribution to the family of the victim was in limbo, that is, a legal limbo regarding on what legal bases are these kinds of incidents. In the future, self-driving cars will everywhere and several of these cases will occur without any doubt. However, at the moment, Uber has suspended all its testing programs with autonomous vehicles in Arizona, California, Pittsburgh and Toronto. Meanwhile, Doug Ducey, governor of Arizona, withdrew to Uber the permission to conduct trials on the streets.
The investigation was going on and the possibility of a lawsuit against Uber in relation to the accident was hovering. However, Tempe police released a 22-second video on March 21 when Herzberg leaves a dark area on the street just before being hit by an Uber SUV. Although the car had a human behind the wheel, the driver had turned his eyes moments before, trusting the autopilot, which was the Volvo’s mode before hitting Elaine.
Despite techs enterprises and automobiles factories have been working during years to design a self-driven and autonomous car, which could prevent accident and possible obstacles, it has been proved that technologies are not always better than humans. Now, it is possible that in spite of big litigation between ride-hailing company and vehicle’s suppliers, legal terms and confidential agreements will come after the incident.
Car manufacturers and software companies agreed that despite the carload data by on-board sensors it was not possible for the car to avoid the collision even if all the systems functioned properly. So, it is impossible to determine who will pay the indemnification agreements in favor of the victim’s family.
