Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey suspends testing of Uber self-driving cars

Gov. Doug Ducey on Monday sent a letter to the CEO of Uber saying he was suspending the ride-sharing company's tests of self-driving cars on Arizona roads after a fatal accident March 18 in Tempe.

That night, a self-driving Volvo operated by Uber struck and killed a pedestrian who was jaywalking on Mill Avenue near Arizona State University.

Uber pulled its self-driving cars off the roads, but after video was released of the accident last week, Ducey said he needed to act to protect the safety of Arizonans.

"Improving public safety has always been the emphasis of Arizona's approach to autonomous vehicle testing, and my expectation is that public safety is also the top priority for all who operate this technology in the state of Arizona," Ducey said in his letter to CEO Dara Khosrowshahi.

"The incident that took place on March 18 is an unquestionable failure to comply with this expectation."

'Disturbing and alarming' video

Uber issued a statement after Ducey's letter was released saying the company would cooperate with the accident investigation and the governor.

"We proactively suspended self-driving operations in all cities immediately following the tragic incident last week," Uber's statement said. "We continue to help investigators in any way we can, and we'll keep a dialogue open with the Governor's office to address any concerns they have."

Video released by Tempe police showed the Uber driver, 44-year-old Rafaela Vasquez, was distracted by something below the dashboard in the seconds before the crash. It is unclear whether she was looking at a phone, laptop or something else.

In the video, the Uber vehicle does not appear to brake or swerve to avoid the collision. Police said the car was in autonomous mode.

Ducey said the video was "disturbing and alarming."

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Ducey said Monday he directed the Arizona Department of Transportation to suspend Uber's ability to test and operate autonomous vehicles.

Uber was first welcomed to Arizona by Ducey in 2015 when he stopped the state from cracking down on the ride-share business for insurance issues, and again later that year when Ducey issued an executive order welcoming self-driving car companies to the state without any special oversight.

Ducey issued another executive order about self-driving cars March 1. In it, he details what is expected of self-driving cars that do not have a driver in the vehicle. Only Uber's rival Waymo operates in Arizona today with no driver behind the wheel, although it still has an employee in the vehicle.

The March 1 executive order from Ducey includes a section that says the order itself does not represent a "right" to operate the vehicles, or to have them licensed and registered in the state.

Working toward full automation

Waymo and Uber are working toward full automation in which cars can operate on their own in designated regions where the companies have mapped the terrain and traffic features.

A year ago, an Uber self-driving vehicle was involved in a crash after a vehicle turned left in front of the Uber. The company kept its cars off the road for two days after that wreck.

The cars have now been off the roads for a week as the National Transportation Safety Board and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration investigate the fatal crash.

Legal experts said it is unlikely a driver would have avoided such a crash because the pedestrian was jaywalking in the dark. But the accident also revealed that the advanced sensors being used by Uber are perhaps not as capable as they have been described.

Despite the Uber accident, Waymo CEO John Krafcik said his company is confident in its technology and plans to launch a competing self-driving ride-share service in the Phoenix area this year.

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