Uber Self-Driving Car struck and killed a woman in Tempe, Arizona

Seurce USA Today

An Uber self-driving car has struck and killed a woman pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona. The incident raises questions about the safety and security of this kind of vehicles.

This is a sad page of the book of technology evolution, an Uber self-driving car has struck and killed a woman pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona.

The news was confirmed by the company, this is the first incident of this type.

According to the media, the accident occurred while the car, a Volvo XC90 SUV, was in the self-driving mode.

“Tempe police are investigating a deadly crash involving a self-driving Uber vehicle overnight. The Uber vehicle was reportedly headed northbound when a woman walking outside of the crosswalk was struck.” states the TV station ABC15.

“Tempe Police says the vehicle was in autonomous mode at the time of the crash and the vehicle operator, 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez, was also behind the wheel. No passengers were in the vehicle at the time. “

The victim Elaine Herzberg (49), the Uber self-driving car has struck the woman while she was crossing the street outside of a crosswalk.

The woman was transported to the hospital where she has died.

Source USA Today

The company immediately suspended its service, all the self-driving cars in the US will be halted, below the message sent by the Uber CEO.

Uber launched the self-driving program in 2015, its vehicles since then are circulating in many US cities, including Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Toronto.

The tests in Tempe, Arizona started in February 2017.

The National Transportation Safety Board announced an investigation and sent a team to the place of the accident.

The company suspended its self-driving program and withdrew all autonomous cars from US roads.

Even if this is an accident, we cannot forget the aspect safety and security when dealing with automotive. Are we really ready to make a self-driving car on the road?

When such kind of vehicle will crowd our cities the risks will be high and the cybersecurity aspects will be crucial.

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Pierluigi Paganini

(Security Affairs – Uber self-driving car, security)

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Pierluigi Paganini

Pierluigi Paganini is member of the ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) Threat Landscape Stakeholder Group and Cyber G7 Group, he is also a Security Evangelist, Security Analyst and Freelance Writer. Editor-in-Chief at "Cyber Defense Magazine", Pierluigi is a cyber security expert with over 20 years experience in the field, he is Certified Ethical Hacker at EC Council in London. The passion for writing and a strong belief that security is founded on sharing and awareness led Pierluigi to find the security blog "Security Affairs" recently named a Top National Security Resource for US. Pierluigi is a member of the "The Hacker News" team and he is a writer for some major publications in the field such as Cyber War Zone, ICTTF, Infosec Island, Infosec Institute, The Hacker News Magazine and for many other Security magazines. Author of the Books "The Deep Dark Web" and “Digital Virtual Currency and Bitcoin”.