California officials say they plan to review the cause of an Arizona pedestrian fatality Sunday night involving an autonomous Uber vehicle, but indicated they have no plans as of now to delay next month's planned testing of robot cars in the state.
The Arizona fatality occurred in the city of Tempe, where police say an Uber driverless vehicle hit a woman who was walking near a crosswalk.
It is believed to be the first instance nationally in which a completely autonomous self-driving vehicle has been involved in a fatal crash. The woman who was struck died later at a hospital.
Uber has suspended testing of its vehicles in San Francisco, Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Toronto, spokeswoman Sarah Abboud said in an email to The Bee.
"Our hearts go out to the victim's family. We're fully cooperating with (Tempe police) and local authorities as they investigate this incident," Uber said.
A person was sitting in the driver's seat of the autonomous vehicle at the time of the crash but was not operating the vehicle, Tempe police said.
The state of California plans to allow companies to test cars on California city streets starting April 2, some of them with no driver and no occupants in the car.
In a statement issued Monday, the state DMV indicated it doesn't plan to delay its permit issuance program unless it learns information from Tempe that causes a reconsideration.
"We need more information on the crash," DMV spokeswoman Jessica Gonzalez wrote in an email to The Bee. "Also we are allowed to issue permits on April 2, but it doesn't mean a manufacturer will be approved."
Some 50 companies have registered with the state to do some sort of testing, and state officials say California represents a prime national market for companies eager to take the technology to the next level. Some companies, such as Uber; Waymo, a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. (formerly the Google autonomous vehicle project); and General Motors already have been testing autonomous cars on California city streets for several years. Waymo's tests have mainly been in Mountain View. General Motors is testing cars in San Francisco.
To obtain the new permits, companies will have to show state and federal officials that the vehicles meet safety standards and are capable of complying with traffic laws.
The testing company also must notify and "coordinate" with any city in which it plans to run its cars. Sacramento city officials have solicited technology companies to test their cars on streets around the state Capitol.
The permit allows testing on any public road, including freeways, but does not require companies to inform Caltrans or the CHP when it uses highways. Sacramento State is pushing for an autonomous shuttle between campus and a nearby light rail station.
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