Authorities have identified the woman believed to be the first pedestrian killed by a self-driving car.

The Tempe, Arizona police department said 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg died after a self-driving Uber vehicle crashed into her as she crossed the road. While an operator was behind the wheel, the vehicle was in autonomous mode.

Uber announced that it would suspend its self-driving car tests, saying in a statement that it was working with authorities and that “our hearts go out to the victim's family”.

The accident seemed all but certain to renew fears that safety hazards remain as companies scramble to scale up autonomous driving technology.

Steady advancements in autonomous vehicle technology have seen self-driving cars log millions of miles on public roads and, in some cities, ferry customers in pilot programmes.

As technology and legacy automobile companies have competed to dominate the emerging self-driving car industry, Arizona has touted itself as a laboratory for the technology.

Uber controversies Show all 4 1 /4 Uber controversies Uber controversies June 2017 Travis Kalanick resigned from his position as CEO of Uber in July of this year, after a tumultous period for the company. A sexist workplace culture was exposed by a damning internal report, leading to heightened pressure on the CEO and consequently to him taking a leave of absence in June. A week later he was forced to resign after losing the confidence of the board of investors AFP/Getty Uber controversies June 2017 Indian police escort Uber taxi driver and convicted rapist Shiv Kumar Yadav following his court appearance in New Delhi on 8 December, 2014. An Uber executive, Eric Alexander, was fired in June of this year after reportedly obtaining the records of the rapist's victim, with the intent to cast doubt on her account of the incident. She later sued the company for defamation and violating her privacy rights Chandan Khanna/AFP Uber controversies May 2017 The company were ordered to pay up to $45 million dollars back to New York based drivers, after taking too much in commission over a two and a half year period. “We made a mistake and we are committed to making it right by paying every driver every penny they are owed, plus interest, as quickly as possible,” said Rachel Holt, Uber’s regional general manager in the US and Canada, to the Wall Street Journal Getty Uber controversies December 2016 Uber's self-driving cars were ordered to be removed from the roads by a Californian car regulator, after being spotted skipping traffic lights. Uber insist that the incidents were "human error" rather than a design flaw. The New York Times later refuted this in an article claiming the autonomous technology had in fact failed Youtube/KTVU

Governor Doug Ducey has enthusiastically promoted his state’s role. A press release from his office announcing new regulations earlier this month called Arizona “ the home for testing of self-driving vehicles” and boasted that the state was “recognized as a leader in welcoming new technology and innovations”.

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