Uber suspends AV testing programme after accident
27 Mar 2017
A car accident involving one of its self-driving cars has led Uber to halt its autonomous testing programme in Arizona and pause its Pittsburgh test bed. This comes as the latest reverse for the company already facing multiple controversies from workplace sexism to its noxious office culture.
A photo first posted on Twitter, showed one of Uber's autonomous Volvos half-capsized, on its side, beside another car with dents and smashed windows in what looked like a high-impact crash in Tempe, Arizona.
The incident was validated by Uber. Uber said, it was officially halting self-driving tests in Arizona and Pittsburgh operations until it finished an investigation regarding the incident.
Bloomberg reported that Uber's self-driving Volvo held no responsibility for the accident, and that there were no injuries whatsoever, according to Josie Montenegro, a Tempe police information officer.
This comes after an incident involving an Uber self-driving car last December in California, when one of its vehicles went past a red light. Uber chose to blame this on human error and not the self-driving tech. However, a New York Times report, which cited two Uber sources, claimed the opposite.
Leaked internal documents had also suggested Uber's self-driving technology was not making steady improvements.
The New York Times had also reported earlier this month, that Uber was using a proprietary software tool to deny rides to members of code enforcement authorities or city officials that were attempting to gather data about Uber offering service where it was currently prohibited (See: After expose, Uber says it has ended 'Greyball' use). The company had since said it was reviewing use of the tool, which it claimed could be used for ''many purposes''.
