I'll comment. Please, no slings of arrows....I'm just voicing my opinion. My condolences to the family and anyone involved--it is a terrible tragedy.
First, a pedestrian, walking a bicycle at night, attempted to cross a four-lane divided highway (with vegetation in the median) outside of a crosswalk in a relatively high-speed area (45mph). The pedestrian's view of the oncoming traffic was relatively clear, but with limited sight-distance. The crossing area is clearly marked: No Pedestrians USE CROSSWALK --> I might add, the crossing median-location is paved/landscaped in such a way that it clearly creates a public nuisance hazard.
Second, the vehicle was traveling below the posted speed limit, was well lighted and had a paid-employee in the driver's seat acting as a (???) 'safety monitor.' The 'safety monitor' was clearly NOT being vigilant (cell phone in hand) but appears no more distracted than a lot of other drivers these days (sic).
Finally, at least one sensor company has identified that the system did (or may have) recognized the pedestrian at 50 feet (.9 seconds prior to impact) and should have triggered the car to react (steer or brake or ???) but the system did not appear to react to avoid/mitigate the collision. I'll point out, that based on other anecdotal calculations posted on the internet (and above), it's unlikely that a human driver would have avoided the collision at 50 feet/0.9 seconds, but it's impossible to predict since no human was continuously watching the road during the last 15-30 seconds.
So? I see plenty of blame here, enough to go around for all.
A mechanical/electronic failure on an autonomous car coupled with the poor monitoring provided by a paid safety observer resulted in the fatal collision with a pedestrian who was illegally crossing a posted four-lane road at night.
Clearly, the car/software needs work and should be held under close scrutiny and held accountable.
Clearly, the safety driver/monitor (texting lump) needs to be better educated on their responsibilities and held accountable for their actions--just as a (regular) driver would be. (Was this the case?)
And...Clearly, the pedestrian who 'took a chance' and broke the law has some culpability in their own demise.
This is an actual picture of the roadway where the accident took place. The victim walked past this sign; presumptively aware of the risk.