As details continue to emerge about the circumstances surrounding the fatal tragedy involving a pedestrian and a self-driving Uber in Arizona, this unfortunate incident raises important questions about the promise and current limitations of driverless car technology, and creates an opportunity to examine the challenge of roadway safety and how to best leverage this technology to save lives. It’s also critical that we keep the incident in the appropriate context. Today the United States experiences an estimated 40,000 traffic deaths per year. Autonomous vehicle technology is still the key to saving tens of thousands of lives.Historically, the federal government has closely regulated automotive safety. This relationship has created public trust that, with only rare exceptions, cars are worthy of safeguarding our lives and those of our families. AV technology has enormous potential to save even more lives and let Americans travel with increased safety wherever they wish to go. And because of the unique and futuristic nature of AV technology, public trust will be even more important – and even more fragile.