Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society. A self-driving Uber car struck and killed a pedestrian early Monday morning in Tempe, Arizona, marking the first pedestrian fatality of the self-driving car era in the United States. The woman, 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg, died at the hospital of her injuries. The vehicle was in autonomous mode, Tempe police told a local ABC affiliate, and an operator--capable of taking control of the car at any moment--was behind the wheel. "Our hearts go out to the victim's family," Uber said in a statement.