Police release footage of autonomous Uber accident.

In continuing coverage of the fatal accident involving a self-driving Uber vehicle, ABC World News Tonight (3/21, story 10, 0:15, Muir, 14.63M) reported on its nightly broadcast that Tempe police released footage of the incident immediately prior to the collision. ABC said of the footage, “It does appear there was little time to do anything,” and there have not been any charges filed at this point.

        The Washington (DC) Post (3/21, Laris, 15.96M) reports that the video also shows the backup driver, Rafaela Vasquez, looking down “several times” prior to the collision. Uber said in a statement, “The video is disturbing and heartbreaking to watch, and our thoughts continue to be with Elaine’s loved ones. Our cars remain grounded, and we’re assisting local, state and federal authorities in any way we can.” Tempe police said they cut the footage before “the collision itself due to the graphic nature of the impact.” Automotive News (3/21, Burke, 182K) says the footage shows the driver “did not have [her] eyes on the road.” Automotive News says their analysis of the video found that the driver would have had about 1.2 seconds between when the pedestrian’s shoes enter the light and the end of the video.

        The Los Angeles Times (3/21, Mitchell, 4.81M) reports that “speculation” that the self-driving vehicle was not at fault “may temper any public or political backlash” due to the intrinsic fear of new technology. The Times reports that evidence shows that self-driving vehicles are likely to reduce crash and fatality rates, but automakers will have to prove this to the public.

        Bloomberg News (3/21, Beene, Levin, 3.41M) reports Sunday’s accident is unlikely to result in regulators slowing the testing of autonomous vehicles. Bloomberg reports the Obama Administration made “efforts to streamline regulations to accommodate the emerging technology,” and the Trump Administration’s “aversion to restrictions and regulations makes it even more unlikely that the accident in Tempe...will result in significant new barriers.” Bloomberg says legislation supported by self-driving vehicle developers “sailed through the House with unanimous support last year,” but a Senate version of the bill “has since stalled amid calls for stronger oversight.” Bloomberg reports policy guidance released by Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao “used the word ‘voluntary’ 57 times.”

        Reuters (3/21) quotes University of South Carolina law professor and self-driving car expert Bryant Walker Smith saying, “Although this video isn’t the full picture, it strongly suggests a failure by Uber’s automated driving system and a lack of due care by Uber’s driver (and by the victim).” Carnegie Mellon University professor Raj Rajkumar concurred, saying, “The sensors should have detected the pedestrian in this case; the cameras were likely useless but both the radars and the Lidar must have picked up the pedestrian.” He added, “Though no information is available, one would have to conclude based on this video alone, that there are problems in the Uber vehicle software that need to be rectified.”

        In his column on Reuters (3/21), John Kemp writes that Sunday’s accident “will mark an important test of the technology but also of the ability of politicians, regulators and the media to think about risk in an intelligent way.” Kemp says that autonomous vehicles will not completely eliminate the risks of driving, so the issue should be whether self-driving vehicles increase or decrease the “already relatively dangerous” act of driving. Kemp advocates for “sensible and balanced safety regulations” which “requires a very transparent approach from the technology companies and a calm and reasoned response from politicians, regulators and journalists.”

        Additional coverage included USA Today (3/21, Garcia, Randazzo, Republic, 9.51M), NPR (3/21, 2.7M), the Los Angeles (CA) Times (3/21, Mitchell, 4.81M), Bloomberg News (3/21, Beene, 3.41M), Automotive News (3/21, 182K), Automotive News (3/20, 182K), Automotive News (3/21, 182K), the Dallas (TX) Morning News (3/21, Rice, Reporter, 982K), Cars (3/21, 842K), Car Connection (3/21, 120K), Car and Driver (3/21, 9.61M), WABC-TV New York (NY) New York (3/21, 299K), Jalopnik (3/21, 1.22M), TechCrunch (3/21, 688K), The Verge (3/21, 1.77M), Venture Beat (3/21, 78K), Re/code (3/21, 262K), Fortune (3/21, 4.04M), and WLUC-TV Marquette, MI (3/21, 2:11 a.m. EDT, 77K).