This March $24,2017,$ photo provided by the Tempe Police Department shows an Uber self$-$driving SUV that flipped on its side in a collision in Tempe, Arizona.TEMPE POLICE DEPARTMENT $/$ AP

On Sunday night, a self$-$driving car operated by Uber struck and killed a pedestrian, $49-$year$-$old Elaine Herzberg, on North Mill Avenue in Tempe, Arizona. It appears to be the first time an automobile driven by a computer has killed a human being by force of impact. The car was traveling at $38$ miles per hour.

An initial investigationLinks to an external site. by Tempe police indicated that the pedestrian might have been at fault. According to that report, Herzberg appears to have come $$from the shadows,$$ stepping off the median into the roadway, and ending up in the path of the car while jaywalking across the street. The National Transportation Safety Board has also opened an investigation. It$$s still hard to know exactly what took place, at this time, without some speculation.