I'm far from being an Uber-supporter here but I think you're overreacting. As others have pointed out, this story is only relevant to HN (and to the national media at large) because it involves Uber and AV, not because it involved a pedestrian dying. It makes sense that the discussion centers around policy and systems since few people here can claim to have even known the victim. Nor does participating in this discussion preclude anyone from going to the victim's Facebook page/funeral and expressing condolences.
Uh, no. Sorry, at a loss to understand where you see "killing is irrelevant" in my comment.
edit: NM, I can see where you'd see that, even though I argue that both being concerned about the death, and wanting to defend Uber, aren't mutually exclusive. Instead of saying "this story is only relevant to HN", I should have said, "this story is only noticed by HN and the national media". Which is true, as far as I can tell. I can recall few nationwide stories about other pedestrian deaths, even though nearly 6,000 occur every year.
