Self-driving car that killed woman couldn’t tell she was jaywalking: safety board

A self-driving Uber vehicle hit and killed a woman who could not recognize that she was jaywalking, according to new National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) documents. 

One document said that the self-driving car did not have “the capability to classify an object as a pedestrian unless that object was near a crosswalk,” according to NBC News. 

Elaine Herzberg, 49, was killed after being struck by the SUV in 2018. 

NBC reported that because Herzberg was not recognized as a pedestrian, the car could not predict her path and braked only 1.3 seconds before hitting her. 

Uber reportedly told the NTSB that it has “modified its programming to include jaywalkers among its recognized objects.” 

The documents also said that Uber did not have the emergency braking system on, so it was up to the driver to stop, according to NBC. The system, however, did not alert the driver, who “intervened less than a second before impact by engaging the steering wheel,” according to the documents.

Sarah Abboud, a spokeswoman for Uber’s self-driving cars told Reuters that it had “adopted critical program improvements to further prioritize safety.”

Abboud added that the company regretted the crash and said that it values “the thoroughness of the NTSB’s investigation into the crash and look forward to reviewing their recommendations.”