• News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
  • News
  • Guides
  • Reviews
  • Media
  • About
Sign up Now (For Free)

Sign up for our newsletter and receive the latest automotive news in your inbox!

Invalid email address
We promise not to spam you. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Thanks for subscribing!
News
Read Now
  • All News
  • Automakers
  • Automobiles
  • Auto Shows
  • Business
  • EVs & Environment
  • Guides
  • Lawsuits/Legal
  • Regulatory
  • Ride-Sharing
  • Safety & Recalls
  • Technology
Recent
  • The Rearview Mirror: Tailfins Take Flight
  • TikTok Reveals the Hottest EVs in the Industry
  • Millions of Older Hyundai, Kia Owners May Face Trouble Getting Car Insurance
  • Bugatti Chiron Profilée Sets New Auction Sales Record
  • Another Delay for VinFast Customers
  • Ford Making Return to Formula One for 2026 Season
  • Ford CEO Farley “Frustrated” by $2 Billion Loss for 2022
  • Hyundai Ioniq 6 Achieves EPA-Estimated 361-Mile Range
  • Nissan’s Virtual EV Convertible, the Max-Out Reappears in Sheet Metal Form
  • Honda Launching Hydrogen-Powered CR-V in 2024
Editor’s Choice
    Reviews
    Read Now
    • All Reviews
      • Feeder
    • Classic Cars
    • Concept Cars
    • Convertibles
    • Coupes
    • Crossovers/CUVs
    • Diesel
    • Hot hatches
    • Hybrids
    • Luxury Vehicles
    • Minivans
    • Muscle Cars
    • Pickups
    • Sedans
    • Sports Cars
    • Super Cars
    • SUVs
    Recent Reviews
    • A Week With: 2023 Lexus GX 460 Black Line
    • A Week With: 2023 BMW X1 xDrive28i
    • A Week With: 2023 Kia Niro EV
    • A Week With: 2023 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy
    • A Week With: 2023 Ford F-150 Raptor R 4x4 Super Crew
    • A Week With: 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 AWD
    • A Week With: 2023 Land Rover Defender 110 V-8
    • First Drive: 2023 Honda Pilot TrailSport
    • A Week With: 2023 Jaguar F-Type R Coupe
    • A Week With: 2023 GMC Yukon Denali Ultimate
    Editor’s Choice
      Guides
      Car Warranty
      • Endurance Warranty Reviews
      • BMW Extended Warranty
      • Extended Warranty For Cars Over 100k Miles
      • Extended Car Warranty Cost
      • Subaru Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Reviews
      • CarShield Cost
      • Aftermarket Car Warranty
      • CARCHEX Warranty Reviews
      • Reputable Extended Car Warranty Companies
      • Used Car Warranty Companies
      • Best Car Warranty
      • Is CarShield A Scam?
      • Mercedes Extended Warranty
      • CarShield Plans
      Insurance
      • How To Identify A Car Insurance Company
      • Geico Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • How Far Back Does A Car Insurance Company Look
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance For Used Cars
      • State Farm Mechanical Breakdown Insurance
      • Mechanical Breakdown Insurance From Progressive
      • Dollar A Day Insurance
      • Auto Insurance For SSI Recipients
      • Car Insurance Rates After A Suspended License
      • Auto Insurance For Salvage Vehicles
      • Average Cost of Dodge Ram 1500 Car Insurance
      • Car Insurance Florida
      • Full Coverage Auto Insurance
      • GrubHub Insurance
      • Amazon Delivery Auto Insurance
      Shipping
      • Car Shipping Companies
      • uShip Reviews
      • Auto Shipping From California To Hawaii
      • Montway Auto Transport Reviews
      • Cheap Car Shipping
      • Easy Auto Ship Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Miami
      • Auto Shipping To Alaska
      • Car Shipping Cost
      • Auto Shipping Hawaii
      • Auto Shipping Puerto Rico
      • Sherpa Auto Transport Reviews
      • Auto Shipping Atlanta
      • Auto Shipping Boston
      • Auto Shipping. Chicago
      About
      • About Us
      • Contact Us
      • Terms of Use
      • Privacy Policy
      • Affiliate Disclosure
      • Sitemap
      TheDetroitBureau.com

      More than just “another” place to find news, reviews, spy shots, commentary, features, and guides about the auto industry. TheDetroitBureau doesn’t stop with the press releases or confuse a few lines of opinion with insightful, in-depth reporting.

      Contact Us

      Like what you see? Have some ideas for making The Detroit Bureau.com even better? Let us know, we’d love to hear your voice.

        Media
        Listen Now
        • Headlight News: All Episodes
        More from TheDetroitBureau
        • Guides
        • Latest News
        • Auto Reviews
        • Podcasts
        Headlight News

        TheDetroitBureau.com’s Headlight News offers a look at the past week’s top automotive news stories, as well as what’s coming up in the week ahead. Check out the week’s top story and our latest review…along with a dive into the past with this week in automotive history.

        home > news > Automakers > Uber Aiming to Relaunch Autonomous Testing on Public Roads

        Uber Aiming to Relaunch Autonomous Testing on Public Roads

        After fatal crash, ride-sharing service plans to redouble steps to ensure safety.

        Paul A. Eisenstein
        Paul A. Eisenstein , Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
        Nov. 05, 2018
        In the wake of a fatal collision with a pedestrian in Arizona, Uber suspended all of its autonomous vehicle testing. Now it wants to resume in Pittsburgh.

        Uber plans to relaunch the autonomous vehicle testing program it suspended following a fatal crash in Arizona last March, but it has advised regulators in Pennsylvania that it will take additional steps to ensure the safety of its vehicles.

        The San Francisco-based ride-sharing service has been betting heavily on fully driverless technology, hoping it will lower costs to the point where many Americans won’t even feel the need to own a private vehicle anymore. But that effort was put on hold after a modified Volvo struck and killed Elaine Herzberg as she crossed a road in a Phoenix suburb.

        News Now!

        It was initially unclear why the Volvo hit the 49-year-old Herzberg, as its system spotted her six seconds before impact. It was subsequently revealed during a police investigation that the backup driver charged with taking control in an emergency was actually streaming the TV show, “The Voice,” rather than watching the road. She failed to intervene when the car’s brakes weren’t automatically applied because of improper modifications made to the vehicle.

        (Click Here for more on the fatal Arizona crash.)

        In a new safety report, as well as an application filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Uber says it will take steps to ensure its test vehicles perform safely. Among the steps it intends to take, it will start using two human backup drivers, rather than one, while those “operators” will log only half as much time on the road during each shift.

        The Tempe (Arizona) Police Department released this footage of Uber's fatal crash. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said significant safety changes have been implemented.

        “We committed to deliver this safety report before returning to on-road testing in self-driving mode, and will go back on the road only when we’ve implemented improved processes,” Dara Khosrowshahi, Uber chief executive, wrote in the 70-page safety report released last Friday.

        Those assigned to serve as operators will now get more extensive training, according to the ride-sharing service. Other steps Uber is taking other steps to improve its safety include modifications to the autonomous vehicle technology it uses. The automatic emergency braking systems will no longer be deactivated, for one thing.

        There are no indications that Uber yet plans to return to testing in Arizona, where the crash occurred on a darkened street in Tempe. It was one of numerous companies testing autonomous technology in that state, in part due to the fact that the weather is almost always good. Some autonomous vehicle programs, include one run by Google spinoff Waymo, are now looking at more temperate regions, such as Michigan. But operating self-driving technology on snow and ice-covered roads raises new challenges.

        Regulators in Pennsylvania have until Nov. 13 to approve or deny Uber’s application. Whether the ride-sharing service would immediately resume operations is not clear. The decision to work in Pittsburgh is no surprise, however, as that is where the headquarters for Uber’s autonomous program is based. It was located there, in part, because of its proximity to Carnegie-Mellon University, which was an early pioneer in self-driving and continues to be a leader in research in the field.

        Uber wants to resume testing autonomous vehicles in Pittsburgh, where it has a research center.

        (Apple files for patent on autonomous vehicle technology. Click Here for more on the secretive program.)

        Though there had been prior collisions, the death of Herzberg last March marked the first fatal accident involving a self-driving vehicle, and it cast a shadow of doubt over a technology that many transportation experts expect to become as much a norm as an exception during the coming decade. The Boston Consulting Group, for example, last December forecast as much as a third of the miles Americans clock on the road by 2030 will be in driverless vehicles operated by ride-sharing services like Uber and its rival Lyft.

        Following the Arizona accident, some competitors scaled back, revised or temporarily halted their testing on public roads. But most have now resumed operations. Waymo is expected to launch a commercial ride-sharing service using fully driverless vehicles by the end of this year. And California recently approved some testing on its roads of vehicles without backup operators – though that has generated protests by some groups, such as Consumer Watchdog.

        If anything, the pace of testing is expected to accelerate, both in the U.S. and abroad. Ford last week announced it would work with Chinese ride-sharing giant Baidu on a pilot program in that country. Ford is also widely expected to partner with German rival Volkswagen on autonomous vehicle development. Sources have told TheDetroitBureau.com an announcement could come on that and other projects before the end of the year.

        (Click Here for more on the Ford-VW talks.)

        The fatal Uber crash has been blamed for raising new worries among the American public about autonomous vehicles. Roughly half of those surveyed by J.D. Power for a recent report said they’d likely never travel in a driverless vehicle.

        (Click Here for more on that study.)

        How to Care for Your Car

        Cheap Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice

        Best Extended Car Warranty

        Editor's Choice
        Recently Published

        The Rearview Mirror: Tailfins Take Flight

        Yesterday
        2021 Porsche Taycan - charging

        TikTok Reveals the Hottest EVs in the Industry

        Feb. 03, 2023
        2018 Hyundai Sonata front

        Millions of Older Hyundai, Kia Owners May Face Trouble Getting Car Insurance

        Feb. 03, 2023

        2 responses to “Uber Aiming to Relaunch Autonomous Testing on Public Roads”

        1. Allen says:
          November 5, 2018 at 4:39 pm

          “…start using two human backup drivers, rather than one…” Won’t change anything. They will both be doing something other than what they were hired to do. Not just cars either. “Safety drivers/engineers” or whatever they may be called, don’t pay attention to the trains or boats or cars or whatever it is that they are supposed to be monitoring. For the Uber cars, maybe just put a large sign on the top similar to the pizza delivery car signs, so at least other cars and pedestrians can be made aware of the hazard of interfering with that vehicle’s programming (or lack of such).

          Reply
          1. Bill Bill says:
            November 12, 2018 at 8:46 pm

            I think that people who want to get somewhere but not wanting to drive need to use a means of transportation currently in place. Bus, train, subway, taxi, Uber with human driver… Should not be able to jeopardize other people’s lives with technology being rushed through in pursuit of profit

            Reply

        Leave a Reply Cancel reply

        Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

        Share this article:
        © The Detroit Bureau 2023
        • Guides
        • Privacy Policy
        • Terms of Use
        • Affiliate Disclosure
        • Contact Us
        • Sitemap
        Follow Us: