San Francisco: Video of the first self-driving car crash that killed a pedestrian showed how the autonomous Uber failed to slow down as it fatally hit a 49-year-old woman walking her bike across the street.

The newly released footage of the collision that killed Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, Arizona, on Sunday night has raised fresh questions about why the self-driving car did not stop when a human entered its path and has sparked scrutiny of regulations in the state, which has encouraged testing of the autonomous technology.

“It’s just awful,” Tina Marie Herzberg White, a stepdaughter of the victim, told the Guardian on Wednesday. “There should be a criminal case.”

Police have released two videos of the case – one outside and one showing the interior of the Volvo SUV. The four-second exterior video showed the car driving down a somewhat dark and largely empty street as it collided into the woman walking directly in its path.

The 14-second video inside the car showed the operator, identified by police as Rafaela Vasquez, 44, appearing to look at something inside the vehicle and not at the road at the time of the collision. She alternated between looking down and looking forward and appeared shocked at the last minute just as the car failed to stop.

Local prosecutors will decide whether criminal charges are warranted. Some have argued that under new rules issued by Arizona’s governor, a strong proponent of the technology, a company like Uber could possibly be criminally liable if an autonomous car negligently killed someone. But police chief Sylvia Moir suggested in an interview that she believed Uber wasn’t at fault.   

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Kalaburagi (PTI): Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday said that the opposition will question the government at the all-party meeting, regarding US President Donald Trump's claims that his administration helped broker a "ceasefire" between India and Pakistan.

The Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha said he will urge the government to call an all-party meeting soon, to discuss the latest developments in border tension between India and Pakistan, including "ceasefire".

Speaking to reporters here, he said, "Trump is saying things to claim credit. These people (PM and central government) are saying no. It is a sensitive matter. When an all-party meeting is called, we will discuss — what’s the matter, what happened and what were the telephone talks— and ask all these things”.

In response to a question whether PM Modi gave in to Trump's mediation, he said "It won’t be right for me to speak about it now. We have our party meeting today. I’m going for that. I will ask (centre) to call an all-party meeting, let’s see what they will do."

India and Pakistan reached an understanding on Saturday to end the military conflict after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.

Indian government sources have been maintaining that the Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMOs) of India and Pakistan reached an understanding to stop all firings and military actions, and no third party was involved.

There was no reference to trade in talks between top leaders of India and the US during the India-Pakistan military conflict, government sources said on Monday after American President Donald Trump claimed that he pressured New Delhi and Islamabad to stop hostilities by threatening to cut trade with both countries.

The source-based clarification came after Trump on Monday said he forced the two countries to stop the hostilities by using the trade card.

Kharge and his party have already demanded that the central government convene a special session of Parliament to discuss the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, and the latest developments in cross-border firing, including the recently announced "ceasefire".