Arizona governor suspends Uber autonomous vehicle testing

The decision has been taken following the first fatality involving a self-driving vehicle in the US.

Arizona governor Doug Ducey has suspended Uber's autonomous vehicle testing privileges in the wake of a recent pedestrian fatality.

A day after the incident happened in Tempe, Arizona, the city police released a 22 second video showing 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg walking from a dark area onto a street just before the Uber autonomous SUV – a Volvo XC90 – hit her. Elaine later succumbed to her injuries.

The Volvo was using Uber’s self-driving tech with a human backup driver at the wheel, who appeared to be have been distracted when the mishap took place. According to media reports, Ducey in a letter to Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed his concerns over Uber’s ability to safely test its autonomous technology in Arizona. Ducey said that public safety must not be compromised at any cost while testing autonomous cars.

This move by Arizona’s governor is in complete disagreement with his recent actions where he welcomed Uber and other autonomous vehicle companies to use Arizona as a place for testing their technology. According to reports, Ducey had allegedly even allowed Uber to run autonomous vehicle tests without a backup driver.