The pedestrian was walking her bicycle outside of the crosswalk, and died in the hospital after she was struck by a self-driving car being tested by Uber. Society and culture
Economic costs
The global economic cost of MVCs was estimated at $518 billion per year in 2003, and $100 billion in developing countries. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention estimated the U.S. cost in 2000 at $230 billion. A 2010 US report estimated costs of $277 billion, which included lost productivity, medical costs, legal and court costs, emergency service costs (EMS), insurance administration costs, congestion costs, property damage, and workplace losses. "The value of societal harm from motor vehicle crashes, which includes both economic impacts and valuation for lost quality-of-life, was $870.8 billion in 2010. Sixty-eight percent of this value represents lost quality-of-life, while 32 percent are economic impacts. "Traffic collision affect the national economy as the cost of road injuries are estimated to account for 1.0% to 2.0% of the gross national product (GNP) of every country each year. A recent study from Nepal showed that the total economic costs of road injuries were approximately $122.88 million, equivalent to 1.52% of the total Nepal GNP for 2017, indicating the growing national financial burden associate with preventable road injuries and deaths.The economic cost to the individuals involved in an MVC varies widely depending on geographic distribution, and varies largely on depth of accident insurance cover, and legislative policy.
Distraction
Research suggests that the drivers attention is affected by distracting sounds such as conversations and operating a mobile phone while driving. Many jurisdictions now restrict or outlaw the use of some types of phone within the car. Recent research conducted by British scientists suggests that music can also have an effect; classical music is considered to be calming, yet too much could relax the driver to a condition of distraction. On the other hand, hard rock may encourage the driver to step on the acceleration pedal, thus creating a potentially dangerous situation on the road.Cell phone use is an increasingly significant problem on the roads and as the U.S. National Safety Council compiled more than 30 studies postulating that hands-free is not a safer option, because the brain remains distracted by the conversation and cannot focus solely on the task of driving. Intent
Some traffic collisions are caused intentionally by a driver. For example, a collision may be caused by a driver who intends to commit vehicular suicide. Collisions may also be intentionally caused by people who hope to make an insurance claim against the other driver, or may be staged for such purposes as insurance fraud. Motor vehicles may also be involved in collisions as part of a deliberate effort to hurt other people, such as in a vehicle-ramming attack. Combinations of factors
Several conditions can combine to create a much worse situation, for example:

Combining low doses of alcohol and cannabis has a more severe effect on driving performance than either cannabis or alcohol in isolation.