On Monday, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey notified Uber that he had suspended the company’s self-driving vehicle testing privileges. Ducey’s decision follows the death of a Tempe pedestrian, who was struck by one of the company’s cars, last week.
Last week, Tempe Police released a video of the collision.
We proactively suspended self-driving operations in all cities immediately following the tragic incident last week. We continue to help investigators in any way we can, and we’ll keep a dialogue open with the Governor’s office to address any concerns they have. https://t.co/G2fzooa3GO
— Uber Comms (@Uber_Comms) March 27, 2018
Ducey notified Uber in a letter that he found the video of the collision to be “disturbing and alarming.” Ducey said that the video “raises many questions about the ability of Uber to continue testing in Arizona.”
“As governor,” wrote Ducey, “my top priority is public safety. Improving public safety has always been the emphasis of Arizona’s approach to autonomous vehicle testing, and my expectation is that public safety is also the top priority for all who operate this technology in the state of Arizona.”
“The incident that took place on March 18 is an unquestionable failure to comply with this expectation,” wrote Ducey.