Coverage: Uber suspends self-driving car program

Uber is pulling its self-driving cars from the road following a rollover crash involving one of its vehicles in Tempe, Arizona on Friday.

Marisa Kendall of the San Jose Mercury News had the news:

Cars in Pittsburgh and San Francisco were out of service Saturday and Sunday, and the company said it had no set date for their return. Uber immediately stopped its self-driving car program in Arizona after the crash, and said its fleet there would remain off the roads while the company continues its investigation into the accident.

“We are continuing to look into this incident,” an Uber spokeswoman wrote in an emailed statement, “and can confirm we had no backseat passengers in the vehicle.”

The self-driving Uber wasn’t to blame in the crash, according to the Tempe Police Department. Another vehicle failed to yield to the Uber while making a left turn at around 6:25 p.m. Friday, causing the two vehicles to collide, and the Uber to roll onto its side, Sgt. Josie Montenegro wrote in an email. There were no serious injuries, and police cited the driver who failed to yield.

Uber says its car was in self-driving mode at the time. Per standard procedure, there was a driver behind the wheel of the car.

The incident could be a step back for Uber’s self-driving car program, which already has faced several hurdles. Uber had just received permission from California regulators earlier this month to bring its self-driving cars back to San Francisco, after the Department of Motor Vehicles pulled the cars from the road because Uber refused to obtain the proper permit. Uber finally caved and agreed to apply for permission to test its cars.

Mark Bergen and Eric Newcomer of Bloomberg News report that Uber faces a number of issues:

However, Uber’s self-driving car program has been mired in controversy. Waymo, Alphabet Inc.’s autonomous driving business that is also testing driverless vehicles in Arizona, sued an Uber unit called Otto earlier this year for allegedly stealing designs for an important component of driverless cars known as lidar. Uber called the suit “baseless.”

The photo, showing the Uber SUV on its side, suggests a relatively high-impact crash. That would be a contrast to the incidents involving self-driving cars tested by Waymo. In more than 2 million miles of testing on public roads, Waymo’s vehicles were mostly minor incidents, often when other cars drove into the back of their vehicles in busy areas.

The incident also comes as Uber, and Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick, are currently under scrutiny because of a series of scandals. The ride-hailing company has been accused of operating a sexist workplace. This month, the New York Times reported that Uber used a tool called Greyball to help drivers evade government regulators and enforcement officials. Kalanick said he needed “leadership help” after Bloomberg published a video showing him arguing with an Uber driver.

Alison Griswold of Quartz reports that the self-driving program just began in February:

Uber began picking up passengers in its self-driving cars in Tempe in late February. Arizona governor Doug Ducey was the inaugural rider. Uber moved its driverless tests to Arizona at the end of December after a brief and disastrous pilot in San Francisco. The company defied regulators in California by refusing to get a testing permit for its autonomous vehicles, saying the rules didn’t really apply. Within hours of being put into service for real passengers, one of Uber’s cars was caught running a red light. Uber blamed the mishap on human error, but the New York Times later reported that internal company documents said their cars had failed to recognize that red light as well as five others.

Uber might have been blameless in the latest self-driving accident, but it couldn’t come at a worse time. The company is mired in scandal, with allegations of sexual harassment, an exodus of senior-level talent, and the conduct and leadership abilities of CEO Travis Kalanick in serious question. Its autonomous vehicle program could be halted indefinitely by a lawsuit brought in February by Waymo, the self-driving car project spun off by Google parent Alphabet. The suit alleges that Uber and Otto, a startup Uber acquired last summer, conspired to steal trade secrets from Waymo. Uber called it “baseless.”

Uber has made self-driving technology the linchpin of its plan for long-term success. In theory, robot cars will be cheaper to operate and maintain than Uber’s current human workforce. They should also be less combative. But the health of Uber’s autonomous vehicle program is unclear. At least 20 engineers have quit since November, Recode reported earlier this week, including Pittsburgh program director Raffi Krikorian and famed Jeep hacker Charlie Miller.