Uber suspends autonomous truck tests

Early reports suggest that an Uber vehicle was in full autonomous mode when it struck and killed a woman crossing a road in Arizona on Sunday.

Uber has subsequently announced it has paused all its self-driving operations, including its trucks, in Phoenix, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto.

Uber has recently been testing trucks in Arizona, and has successfully completed a delivery across Colorado of 48,000 cans of Budweiser beer.

The 49-year-old victim of the Uber tragedy was reportedly walking outside of a pedestrian crossing at the time of the crash.

A vehicle operator was inside the car at the time of the collision.

Announcing a statement on Twitter, Uber said: “Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We are fully cooperating with local authorities in their investigation of this incident.”

“Our hearts go out to the victim’s family. We’re fully cooperating with @TempePolice and local authorities as they investigate this incident.”

It’s not the first time one of Uber’s vehicles has been involved in an accident, but it is the first time it has been involved in a fatality.

The car-share app says it is now assisting the police in its “active investigation” and is expected to share both data and footage of the incident.

Within the US there are growing calls for tighter regulations around the fully autonomous technology that is supposed to detect and distinguish between pedestrians, cyclists and other road users.

One well-publicised incident in California drawing attention from US media involved a Tesla that was found stopped in the middle of a five-lane highway with its driver asleep behind the wheel.

According to reports, the vehicle was in ‘Autopilot’ mode, which switched off after the driver drifted off and let go of the steering wheel. The Tesla owner was later arrested on suspicion of drink driving.