Uber wants to resume self-driving tests on public roads

DETROIT (AP) – Uber wants to resume testing on public roads nearly eight months after the murder of a pedestrian in Arizona by one of its standalone test vehicles.

The company has applied to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation for testing in Pittsburgh. She issued a long safety report in which she promised to place two rescue drivers in each vehicle and to take many other precautions to ensure the safety of the vehicles.

Company officials acknowledged that they still had a long way to go to regain public confidence after the March 18 crash in Tempe, Arizona, which killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg. that she was crossing a dark street outside a pedestrian crossing.

Police said that Uber's stand-alone driver in the Volvo autonomous SUV was broadcasting the TV show "The Voice" on his phone and looked down before the accident. The National Transportation Safety Board said the Volvo's autonomous driving system spotted the Herzberg about six seconds before it hit, but did not stop because the system used to automatically brake in potentially dangerous situations was turned off. . A Volvo emergency braking system was also deactivated.

"Our goal is to really work to regain that trust and help advance the entire industry," said Noah Zych, head of the safety system for autonomous cars, in an interview. "We think the right thing to do is to be open and transparent about what we do."

Among the other precautions, Uber, based in San Francisco, will maintain the autonomous vehicle system at all times and will activate Volvo's emergency automatic braking system as a backup.

In addition, Uber needs more technical training and the expertise of employees sitting behind the wheel of vehicles, according to a 70-page safety report released Friday by the company.

The report comes after the descent control company has stopped the autonomous vehicle tests to conduct an internal review of its security procedures, as well as an external review by the risk management company LeClairRyan.

Although the report covers all the major basics, Uber should have gone even further considering the death of his car, Herzberg, said Bryant Walker Smith, an assistant law professor at the University of South Carolina, who studied the problems of autonomous vehicles. In his most blatant omission, Uber did not accept responsibility for Herzberg's death – the first involving a fully autonomous vehicle, he said.

"Frankly, I'm looking for more Uber than other companies, and I guess governments could be as well," Walker Smith said.

According to Pennsylvania's voluntary guidelines, the Transportation Department has until November 13 to approve or reject Uber's application, or to ask other questions.

At present, the Pennsylvania law does not allow testing of autonomous vehicles without a rescue driver. Google's Waymo is already carrying passengers in the Phoenix area without a human driver, and General Motors' Cruise Automation is hoping to do it next year.

Pittsburgh officials can not legally block testing, but they are in talks on safety with Uber and four other entities licensed to test autonomous vehicles, said Karina Ricks, director of the city's Mobility and Infrastructure Department. .

For example, the city wants to limit the speed of autonomous vehicles to 25 miles to the hour in urban areas, even if the posted speed is higher.

"Slower speeds give the vehicle and the safety driver more time to react and prevent an accident," said Ricks, who called the talks fruitful.

Pittsburgh is home to Uber's Autonomous Vehicle Development Center, making it a logical choice for the resumption of robotic vehicle testing.

"We are working with the city, the officials, and we are very keen, I think, to ensure that we can get back on the road in autonomous driving mode, in consultation and in close partnership with them," said Miriam Chaum, chief of The direction. public policy regarding autonomous vehicles of Uber.

Later, there will be talk of bringing his autonomous cars back to Arizona, California and Toronto, Ontario, his other test sites. Arizona has suspended the company's authorization to conduct tests after the crash.