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

Who bears the cost?

Who bears the cost?

This small window of low inflation should compel a rethink of how the authorities and employers understand the average household’s

Editorial

Internet restrictions
Updated 23 Dec, 2024

Internet restrictions

Notion that Pakistan enjoys unprecedented freedom of expression difficult to reconcile with the reality of restrictions.
Bangladesh reset
23 Dec, 2024

Bangladesh reset

THE vibes were positive during Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s recent meeting with Bangladesh interim leader Dr...
Leaving home
23 Dec, 2024

Leaving home

FROM asylum seekers to economic migrants, the continuing exodus from Pakistan shows mass disillusionment with the...
Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...