Uber self-driving tests halted after pedestrian dies

FLAGSTAFF, ARIZ. — Uber suspended all of its self-driving testing after what is believed to be the first fatal pedestrian crash involving the vehicles.

The testing has been going on for months in the Phoenix area, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto as automakers and technology companies compete to be the first with the technology.

Uber’s testing was halted after police in a Phoenix suburb said one of its self-driving vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian overnight Sunday. The vehicle was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel when a woman walking outside of a crosswalk was hit, Tempe police Sgt. Ronald Elcock said.

The woman, whose name hasn’t been released, died of her injuries at a hospital.

Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed condolences on his Twitter account and said the company is working with local law enforcement on the investigation.

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident,” an Uber spokeswoman, Sarah Abboud, said in a statement.

The federal government has voluntary guidelines for companies that want to test autonomous vehicles, leaving much of the regulation up to states. The U.S. Department of Transportation is considering other voluntary guidelines that it says will help foster innovation. But Transportation Secretary Elaine Chaos also has said technology and automobile companies need to allay public fears of self-driving vehicles, citing a poll showing that 78 per cent of people fear riding in autonomous vehicles The number of states considering legislation related to autonomous vehicles gradually has increased each year. In 2017 alone, 33 states introduced legislation.

Arizona already allows selfdriving cars to operate without a driver behind the wheel. Since late last year, Waymo, the selfdriving car unit from Google’s parent company Alphabet, has been using cars without a human in the driver’s seat to pick up and drop off passengers there.

An Uber self-driving car was involved in another crash a year ago in Tempe. In that collision, one of Uber’s Volvo XC90 SUVs was hit when the driver of another car failed to yield, causing the Uber vehicle to roll over onto its side. The car was in self-driving mode with a safety driver behind the wheel. The National Transportation Safety Board was sending a small team of investigators to Arizona to gather information about the Uber crash, said Eric Weiss, an NTSB spokesman.