More bad news for Uber: one of the ride-hailing giant's self-driving Volvo SUVs has been involved in a crash in Arizona — apparently leaving the vehicle flipped onto its side, and with damage to at least two other human-driven cars in the vicinity.
The aftermath of the accident is pictured in photos and a video posted to Twitter by a user of @FrescoNews, a service for selling content to news outlets. According to the company's tweets, the collision happened in Tempe, Arizona, and no injuries have yet been reported.
Uber has also confirmed the accident and the veracity of the photos to Bloomberg. We've reached out to the company with questions and will update this story with any response. Update: Uber has now provided us with the following statement: "We are continuing to look into this incident and can confirm we had no backseat passengers in the vehicle."
TechCrunch understands Uber's self-driving fleet in Arizona has been grounded, following the incident, while an investigation is undertaken. The company has confirmed the vehicle involved in the incident was in self-driving mode. We're told no one was seriously injured.
Local newspaper reports suggest another car failed to yield to Uber's SUV, hitting it and resulting in the autonomous vehicle flipping onto its side. Presumably the Uber driver was unable to take over the controls in time to prevent the accident.
Source: TechCrunch
(Score: 2) by mendax on Monday March 27 2017, @11:23PM
This is what I learned while getting my CDL, although it is not on the DMV exam or in the vehicle code. And from my own experience with a pickup truck vs. big rig accident in which I was at least partially at fault, there was no question whose insurance company was going to pay to fix my pickup: the big rig's.
Incidentally, this does not mean that the big rig driver will get a ticket if he's considered at fault. He has to be factually at fault.
Another bit of information about truckers. If the cops are called, the trucker is going to be given a drug test ASAP. If there is anything in his blood stream, even if it is under the legal limit, he can be charged with a DUI. There is no tolerance for drugs or alcohol among professional drivers. None at all.
It's really quite a simple choice: Life, Death, or Los Angeles.