優步與車禍受害者家屬達成賠償協議

Uber has reached a settlement with the family of the woman who was killed by its autonomous car in Arizona last week, heading off another high-profile legal drama for the company.

優步(Uber)與上週在亞利桑那州被其自動駕駛汽車撞死的女子的家人達成和解，使該公司避免了又一起引人注目的法律糾紛。

Several agencies are still investigating the collision that caused the death of 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg in Tempe, a Phoenix suburb, on March 18. She is believed to be the first pedestrian to be killed by a self-driving car. Regulators and autonomous driving companies are watching developments closely in a case that threatens to shake up the nascent self-driving car industry.

3月18日，在鳳凰城(Phoenix)郊區坦佩(Tempe)，49歲的伊萊恩?赫茨伯格(Elaine Herzberg)被撞身亡。目前，幾家機構仍在調查這起事故。據信，她是第一個被自動駕駛汽車撞死的行人。監管機構和自動駕駛公司正在密切關注事態的發展，因爲這一事件可能撼動新興的自動駕駛汽車行業。

Ms Herzberg was pushing her bike across a quiet road at around 10pm when she was struck by Uber’s Volvo, which was travelling at about 40mph.

當晚10點左右，赫茨伯格推着一輛自行車在一條安靜的街上過馬路時，被優步公司的沃爾沃(Volvo)汽車撞倒，當時車輛的時速約爲40英里（合64公里）。

A video released by Tempe police last week revealed that the vehicle did not slow or swerve to avoid the pedestrian, drawing criticism from experts who believe that Uber’s sensors and autonomous systems might have been able to avoid the collision. The car’s driver was not looking at the road until the moment of impact, the video also appeared to show.

坦佩警方上週發佈的一段視頻顯示，這輛車沒有減速或轉向來避開行人，這招致專家們的批評。他們認爲，優步的傳感器和自動系統應該能夠避免這一撞人事故。這段視頻似乎還顯示，在撞人之前，這輛車的司機也沒在觀察路面。

Ms Herzberg’s daughter and husband agreed the settlement with Uber for an undisclosed sum. Their lawyer, Cristina Perez Hesano, said that the family had “no further comments on this matter as it has been resolved”.

赫茨伯格的女兒和丈夫與優步達成了和解協議，協議金額沒有披露。他們的律師克里斯蒂娜?佩雷茲?赫賽諾(Cristina Perez Hesano)說，她家人“對這一事件不作進一步評論，這件事已經解決”。

Uber declined to comment. News of the settlement was first reported by Reuters.

優步拒絕置評。達成和解的新聞是由路透社(Reuters)最先報道的。

Bryant Walker Smith, assistant professor at the University of South Carolina school of law, who writes regularly on autonomous driving matters, said he was surprised by how quickly the case was settled.

經常就自動駕駛問題發表文章的南卡羅來納大學(University of South Carolina)法學院助理教授布萊恩特?沃克?史密斯(Bryant Walker Smith)說，他對此案達成和解的速度感到驚訝。

“I respect the family's privacy, but I also wish that the terms here were public. I associate transparency with trustworthiness, and I would encourage Uber to be more public about its process in general,” he said.

“我尊重這個家庭的隱私，但我也希望和解條款能夠公開。我會將透明度與可信度聯繫在一起，一般而言，我會鼓勵優步對其流程更加公開，”他說。

“Uber is not the only potential defendant. It’s not yet clear what went wrong within Uber’s automated driving system, which likely incorporates hardware and software from various suppliers. And the design of that roadway could be viewed as a contributing factor in the crash.”

“優步並不是唯一的潛在被告。目前還不清楚優步的自動駕駛系統出了什麼問題。該系統可能集成了不同供應商的硬件和軟件。而那條道路的設計也可能被視爲事故發生的因素之一。”