Uber pulls self-driving cars off Tempe, AZ streets

Uber pulls self-driving cars off Tempe, AZ streets

Following a crash, Uber suspends its self-driving car program in Arizona, along with its operations in Pittsburgh, PA

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Uber problem Uber has decided to pull its self-driving program from Arizona following the crash of one of its Volvo SUVs kitted with autonomous features. The crash occurred in Tempe, AZ, and Uber says the self-driving car did not cause the accident, according to a story in Bloomberg. Still the company is not only pulling its testing in Tempe, but Pittsburgh, PA as well.

Self-driving cars are expected to weave into our daily lives in the next several years—hence the recent $15 billion bet Intel made on Israeli-based Mobileye, which build autonomous technology. Still, there are certainly hurdles to over come. One includes the ability for self-driving cars to make the decisions needed for these vehicles to integrate safely on to roads. The other is the public's perception and its feeling of safety whether in an autonomous vehicle, or sharing streets with these cars.

Three-quarters of those in the U.S. believe self-driving cars will never be safe enough to hit the roads, according to a survey from Deloitte in January. Deloitte took its results to read that Americans are still not confident enough about autonomous technology.

Accidents like the one involving Uber's test vehicle add to this concern. While there was a person behind Uber's wheel, and police reported that the other car involved in the crash actually refused to yield to Uber's car, these dust-ups need to be examined more closely before we see autonomous vehicles dominating our roads—and skies.

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