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A self-driving Uber vehicle struck and killed a pedestrian in the first death involving a fully autonomous test vehicle on March 19, 2018.

The accident prompted the ride-hailing company to suspend road-testing of such cars in the US and Canada. 

The Volvo SUV was in self-driving mode with a human back-up operator behind the wheel in Tempe when a woman walking a bicycle was hit.

Elaine Herzberg, 49, died in hospital.

Police have said that the victim, 49 year old Elaine Herzberg, stepped out in front of the car suddenly and they do not believe the car was to blame. 

Uber suspended its self-driving vehicle testing in the Phoenix area, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

The testing has been going on for months as car makers and technology companies compete to be the first with cars that operate on their own.

Uber’s self-driving car crash that led to the death of a mother-of-two could have been avoided, driverless vehicle experts have claimed.

Cortica, a firm that develops artificial intelligence for autonomous vehicles, has analysed the dash cam video.

The company concludes the car, which failed to brake or swerve before the collision, had enough time to react and potentially save Ms Herzberg’s life.

Speaking to CNET, Cortica’s CEO Igal Raichelgauz said the firm’s self-driving AI system detected Ms Herzberg 0.9 seconds before impact.

At this point the car was around 50 feet (15 metres) away.

He said the autonomous car’s cameras and radar system should have had enough time to pick up the pedestrian and react to the situation.

Driverless cars are fitted with a system of cameras, radar and lidar sensors that allow them to ‘see’ their surroundings and detect traffic, pedestrians and other objects.

An AI computer system then decides what actions the car takes to avoid a collision – a setup that is supposed to work as well at night as during the day.

A top executive for the maker of Lidar sensors used on Uber’s self-driving car said she was ‘baffled’ as to why the vehicle failed to recognise Ms Herzberg.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk