Uber suspends self-driving vehicles after SUV kills US woman
News & Trends •
tempe is 11 miles 18 km east of phoenix1 ride services company uber today suspended its autonomous vehicle programme after its self-driving sport utility vehicle killed a woman on the street in arizona1 the accident in the phoenix suburb of tempe dealt a potential blow not only to ubers strategy but the eventual rollout of robot cars on public roads1 it was the first fatality from a self-driving vehicle1 the vehicles are being tested around the globe in a high-profile race by global automakers and tech companies expecting that autonomous vehicles will transform transportation and the ride services business1 the vehicle was in autonomous mode with an operator behind the wheel at the time of the accident which occurred overnight sunday to monday tempe police said1 the vehicle was traveling northbound when a female walking outside of the crosswalk crossed the road from west to east when she was struck by the uber vehicle police said in a statement1 local television footage of the scene showed a crumpled bike and a volvo xc90 suv with a smashed-in front1 the 49 year-old woman was identified as elaine herzberg. she died from her injuries in a hospital police said1 an uber technologies inc spokesman said the company was suspending north american tests of its self-driving vehicles. in a tweet uber expressed its condolences and said the san francisco-based company was fully cooperating with authorities1 volvo confirmed the vehicle was a volvo xc90 which uber has been using special versions of in its testing. russell datz a spokesman for the automaker said the autonomous technology was not made by volvo1 the u.s. national highway traffic safety administration nhtsa and national transportation safety board ntsb said they were sending teams to investigate the crash. nhtsa also said it was in contact with volvo. the swedish car brand is owned by chinas geely1 in canada the ministry of transportation in canadas ontario province which is overseeing ubers on-road autonomous testing in toronto said it was reviewing the accident1 on friday alphabet incs self-driving unit waymo and uber urged congress to pass sweeping legislation to speed the introduction of self-driving cars into the united states. some congressional democrats have blocked the legislation over safety concerns and mondays fatality could hamper the quick passage of the bill congressional aides said monday1 this is a wake-up call to the entire av industry and government to put a high priority on safety tweeted former u.s. transportation secretary anthony foxx1 senator john thune who heads the senate commerce committee and has been urging congress to pass sweeping legislation to speed self-driving cars to u.s. roads said in a statement the accident underscores the need to adopt laws and policies tailored for self-driving vehicles1 fallout from the crash will likely prove negative for all auto makers and suppliers with aspirations in autonomous driving buckingham research group analyst glenn chin wrote in a client note. a human fatality is likely to spur increased public and regulatory scrutiny of avs around a process that is admittedly quite lax in the u.s1