Uber grounds self-driving cars after accident

Published March 26, 2017
A self driving Uber car.—AP/File
A self driving Uber car.—AP/File

Uber has grounded its fleet of self-driving cars pending an investigation into the crash of an Uber autonomous vehicle in Arizona, a spokesperson for the car-hailing service said Sunday.

No one was seriously injured in the accident which occurred Friday in Tempe, Arizona while the vehicle — a Volvo SUV — was in self-driving mode, the company said.

“We are continuing to look into this incident and can confirm we had no backseat passengers in the vehicle,” the Uber spokesperson said.

The accident occurred when the other vehicle “failed to yield” while making a left turn, Tempe police spokeswoman Josie Montenegros said.

“The vehicles collided causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto it's side. There were no serious injuries,” she said.

Self-driving Uber vehicles always have a driver who can take over the controls at any time.

Montenegro said it was uncertain whether the Uber driver was controlling the vehicle at the time of the collision.

The company grounded its self-driving vehicles in Arizona after the accident, and then followed up on Saturday pulling them off the road in Pittsburg and San Francisco, the two other locations where it operates self-driving vehicles, the company said.

The car-hailing service has been dented by a series of bad news stories, including disclosures about a culture of sexism, cut-throat workplace tactics and covert use of law enforcement-evading software.

A number of executives have left the company in recent weeks, including president Jeff Jones, as troubles have mounted.

Advocates of self-driving cars say that they can cut down on deadly traffic accidents by eliminating human error. But there have been accidents, including a fatality in Florida in May when a truck struck a speeding Tesla that was on autopilot.

An investigation found no safety-related defects with the autopilot system, but concluded that the driver may have had time to avert the crash if he had been paying closer attention.

Opinion

Editorial

Last call
Updated 15 Nov, 2024

Last call

PTI should hardly be turning its "final" protest into a "do or die" occasion.
Mini budget talk
15 Nov, 2024

Mini budget talk

NO matter how much Pakistan’s finance managers try to downplay the prospect of a ‘mini budget’ to pull off a...
Diabetes challenge
15 Nov, 2024

Diabetes challenge

AMONGST the many public health challenges confronting Pakistan, diabetes arguably does not get the attention it...
China security ties
Updated 14 Nov, 2024

China security ties

If China's security concerns aren't addressed satisfactorily, it may affect bilateral ties. CT cooperation should be pursued instead of having foreign forces here.
Steep price
14 Nov, 2024

Steep price

THE Hindu Kush-Himalayan region is in big trouble. A new study unveiled at the ongoing COP29 reveals that if high...
A high-cost plan
14 Nov, 2024

A high-cost plan

THE government has approved an expensive plan for FBR in the hope of tackling its deep-seated inefficiencies. The...