Following a collision that caused significant damage to an Uber self-driving car in Arizona last week, the company has suspended its autonomous driving experiments in Arizona and Pittsburgh.
A photo on Twitter shows one of the Volvo SUVs fitted with Uber self-driving tech resting on its side near another battered vehicle, suggesting a major collision. A Tempe, Ariz., police spokesperson confirmed the collision in an email to Reuters, explaining that a human-driven vehicle "failed to yield" to the SUV.
"The vehicles collided, causing the autonomous vehicle to roll onto its side," Josie Montenegro told Reuters. "There were no serious injuries."
Following the collision, Uber suspended its US self-driving programs in Tempe, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco, Reuters reports. The company resumed testing in San Francisco on Monday, since that program involves just two vehicles for research purposes and does not accept paying passengers. An Uber spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Related
- Pedestrians: Self-Driving Cars' Biggest Foes?Pedestrians: Self-Driving Cars' Biggest Foes?
While self-driving vehicle collisions aren't unheard of, they're typically of the minor fender-bender variety. Google's autonomous test vehicles have been involved in several crashes over the years, including an incident last September when another car ran a red light and collided with a Google SUV. A more serious crash last year left a Tesla driver dead after his car, operating in "Autpilot," collided head-on with a truck.
Last week's collision appears to be the first major crash involving an Uber self-driving car, but the company's self-driving experiment has been mired in controversy before. In December, Uber was forced to suspend its San Francisco self-driving program after it refused to secure a permit from California's Department of Motor Vehicles. The DMV revoked the vehicles' licenses, although the cars returned to the city in January for mapping and research purposes, instead of picking up paying passengers.
The provenance of the company's self-driving technology is also in question, following a lawsuit last month from Google subsidiary Waymo, which alleges that Uber used Google's trade secrets without permission to develop its own self-driving cars. Uber claims the suit is "baseless."
A researcher uses game theory to analyze the 'crosswalk chicken' that could occur between pedestrians and autonomous vehicles.
We go inside California's ArtCenter College of Design, which has long been the place to train as an automotive designer, but recently branched out into wearables, too.
Uber creates geofences around the office buildings of public officials who it suspects are involved in sting operations, the New York Times reports.
The US Army lost communication with the drone, known as Shadow, which flew for more than 600 miles before crashing in the Colorado Rockies.
Relax Uber Self-Driving Car Crashes in Arizona stories
With its new auto-licensing program, Microsoft is embarking on a campaign to get its software into connected cars of the future.
Leaked documents show that Uber's autonomous vehicles can't even go a mile, on average, before a human safety driver needs to assume control.
With Mobileye under its wing, Intel said it will be able to 'accelerate innovation for the automotive industry.'
Flexible materials and magnets combine to create a quadcopter you can smash into a wall at high speed without causing any damage.
Uber allegedly stole technology from Google's self-driving car project, now called Waymo.
Uber is now reviewing the technology, which deceives authorities in cities where the ride-hailing service is banned.
Because it's fully autonomous and meant to feel like 'a comfortable lounge on wheels,' Sedric doesn't have a steering wheel or pedals.
The prototype will help Toyota pursue two parallel avenues of autonomous driving research: one that can take over completely, and one that serves as a backup for human drivers.
The US Army lost communication with the drone, known as Shadow, which flew for more than 600 miles before crashing in the Colorado Rockies.
The ride-hailing app previously argued that it didn't need the $150 permit since humans were present in its autonomous Volvo XC90 SUVs at all times.
Well … it's about time.
This is just the latest in a series of bad PR for Uber as of late.
News of the lawsuit follows allegations of sexism and sexual harassment at Uber.
Ford said it plans to have a fully autonomous vehicle ready for package delivery fleets in 2021.
Uber is sending messages to those deleting the app, apologizing for missteps.
As the company suffers blow after blow to its reputation, users are deleting the app.
The rollout in Tempe comes after Uber pulled its self-driving fleet off the streets of San Francisco.
Read an excerpt from 'Driverless: Intelligent Cars and the Road Ahead.'
The automaker has acquired majority ownership of Pittsburgh, Penn.-based Argo AI.
The arrogance of the Uber executives, who do not seem to understand the situation, might ruin it for everyone.
This Entrepreneur contributor figures he saves 8.2 hours a week not owning a car. That's 426 more hours per year he can work on his business.
Samsung will refurbish and sell the Galaxy Note 7, but there aren't any details on where or when just yet.
Solve the mystery of your confinement or die trying.
We already have Amazon book stores, now we may get stores selling household items and electronics outlets that rival Apple Stores.
UK home secretary Amber Rudd argues that government intelligence services must be able to access encrypted messages from apps like WhatsApp in the event of a terrorist situation.
You'll want to unload your older device if you have your eye on the soon-to-be-announced S8.
With slow consumer adoption, HTC is wooing professional users.
The new Alta HR needs to sit firmly on your wrist all through the night.
Rather than just having one display on a smartwatch, Samsung wants two, with the second being placed around the rotating rim of the watch.
AI will drive consumers to look for traits in brands that have been more traditionally associated with humans: honesty, empathy, loyalty, and service.
Need a handheld computer for work? Make your boss get you the smartphone brand recommended by PCMag readers.
