Arizona Suspends Uber

The Arizona government announced that it would be suspending Uber’s ability to test its autonomous driving vehicle platform on public roads for the foreseeable future. This comes on the heels of the tragic event that happened in Phoenix where a forty nine year old woman was struck and killed by one of Uber’s self driving test vehicles. The woman was crossing a four lane road at night when she was struck and killed.

Uber self driving car

The Governor of Arizona released the letter which was sent to Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi publicly in which it stated that after reviewing the video that the policed released surrounding the crash were disturbing, alarming and raises the question as to if anyone should be allowed to perform real world test for self driving cars. The Governor further noted that the whole exercise was an unquestionable failure and why he suspended Uber’s licence. This stance by Governor Ducey is a bit of a departure from his previous points of view as he was previously on record as saying that Arizona would welcome Uber with open arms and open roads.

Uber Self Driving Car

Arizona is a major testing ground for the Uber company, which move a number of staff and technology infrastructure to the desert from California in the hopes of making quicker ground on its rival Waymo, which is owned by Google parent company Alphabet, and who is considered the industry leader in the autonomous driving technology field. This suspension of Uber’s ability to get real world street testing is a huge blow to the company as it tries to get as much real world simulation as it possibly can. Rumors have it the Waymo company has already logged over five million miles of real world driverless time on urban roads throughout America so far. Estimates peg Uber’s Arizona fleet of driverless cars to be in the 200 range and that it employs another few hundred people in the state.

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