You may have heard the sad news last week that an autonomous vehicle test-driving for Uber struck and killed a pedestrian in Arizona. The family has settled with the ride-hailing company for an undisclosed amount, avoiding a trial. Autonomous vehicles are still an “unknown”, and of particular interest for the insurance and workers’ compensation world. Supporters of autonomous vehicles say they will make the road safer and driverless cars could drive better than human drivers who get distracted or tired. We have seen too many drivers and workers killed in vehicle accidents, although this technology is still very experimental and there is a lot to be discovered before it can be implemented.

A woman was walking her bike across the street in Tempe, Arizona, when she was struck and killed by a self-driving vehicle operated by Uber. The car did not look like it had slowed down before it struck her. The safety driver behind the wheel did not seem impaired and the weather was dry and clear.

Uber has since suspended testing in Tempe, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto, and other companies Toyota Motor Corp and chipmaker Nvidia Corp have suspended testing on public roads. Nvidia chips are not used by Uber according to Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang. The National Transportation Safety Board is sending a team of investigators to understand what happened.

An Uber self-driving car collided with another “pedestrian” vehicle in March last year but it was determined that the other driver was at fault, and not the self-driving car. This was the first fatality caused by an autonomous vehicle, though there was a safety driver behind the wheel.

Read more from Reuters and The New York Times