Waymo sticks with self-driving ride service

Uber fatality doesn’t deter technology push

Waymo plans to offer Arizonans a new ride service this year using selfdriving Chrysler minivans, and is undeterred by the fatal accident involving Uber in Tempe a week ago using similar technology.

Waymo CEO John Krafcik re-affirmed the company’s public ride-share plans on Saturday while speaking to the National Automobile Dealers Association convention in Las Vegas. Like Google, Waymo is owned by Alphabet Inc.

A 49-year-old woman was killed March 18 when she was jaywalking on Mill Avenue and struck by a self-driving Uber with an operator behind the wheel. Police said the car was in autonomous mode, which means its advanced sensors should have detected the pedestrian even outside of a crosswalk in the dark.

On Monday, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey suspended Uber’s ability to operate and test autonomous vehicles in the state.

Krafcik said he was saddened by the fatality, but that he expects a Waymo vehicle would have avoided the accident.

“For those of us at Waymo, it was a very say day because that was an accident that was in a car that had technology representing the self-driving space,” Krafcik said. “It is the mission of safety and avoiding accidents just like that one that bring us all together as a company. It struck us, I think, in a very, very, very major way.”

He made no mention of any adjustments the company is making in the wake of the accident.

He said the ongoing investigation by federal officials into the accident ultimately will determine exactly what went wrong, but he believes Waymo vehicles that now operate in Arizona —