Uber restarts self-driving passenger pilots in Arizona and Pittsburgh

Uber has confirmed that all its autonomous test cars are now back on the road in the US, following an accident in Arizona on Friday evening that left one of its vehicles flipped on its side. The company temporarily suspended its entire test program in the wake of the accident.

A spokeswoman said Uber ended its suspension of the testing program in Tempe and Pittsburgh yesterday, following an investigation into the incident which involved one of its Volvo SUV self-driving test vehicles. It had earlier restarted tests in San Francisco, where it is currently running development test operations.

The spokeswoman told us Uber felt confident in returning its remaining autonomous test vehicles to the road, having paused the passenger pilots to get a clearer picture of what happened in Tempe.

The Uber test car had been driving autonomously at the time of the incident but did not have any passengers (except the driver) on board. All Uber’s autonomous test vehicles include a driver sitting in the driver’s seat in a position to take over should it be required.

No one has been reported seriously injured in the incident, and local police reports suggest the crash happened after a human-driven car failed to yield to the Uber, driving into it and flipping it onto its side.