You have to see the dash cam footage from the Uber self-driving accident

Every time you get into a vehicle, whether you are the driver or just a passenger, you’re taking a risk. The National Safety Council said that nearly 40,000 people died in 2016 from motor vehicle crashes in the U.S. Scary!

Most horrific car accidents occur in a split second, without much time to react. That’s exactly what happened earlier this week when a self-driving Uber vehicle killed a pedestrian.

With all of the safety features built-in to autonomous vehicles, it’s been a mystery as to how this gruesome incident occurred. Fortunately, dash cam footage has just been released that gives us a glimpse into what happened.

Warning! You may find this footage unsettling

Tempe Police released the video of the fatal crash that happened late Sunday night. The video has been edited, but some might still find it disturbing.

The “driver” is visibly shaken when they realize what just happened. Uber’s autonomous vehicles have been in test mode for quite some time in select cities across the U.S.

These self-driving cars have human safety drivers behind the wheel, so they can take control of the vehicle if there appears to be an emergency situation unfolding. In this tragic event, there wasn’t enough time to react.

Autonomous cars use LiDAR technology, which stands for Light Detection and Ranging. It’s designed to detect other vehicles, road signs, and pedestrians. The technology is known to have trouble with detection when transitioning from dark to light or light to dark, which seems to be what happened during this fatal accident.

Clearly, self-driving vehicle technology isn’t ready to be fully implemented yet. Improvements and more safety features are still required. But what is the future of autonomous vehicles?