Uber has officially ended its self-driving program in Arizona two months after the fatal accident involving one of its cars.
This is far from the end of the ride-hailing company’s driverless car operations, however. Per the BBC, Uber intends on resuming self-driving tests in Pennsylvania this summer, the same state where its autonomous project commenced in 2016.
After the fatal crash in Arizona where a cyclist was hit and killed by an Uber prototype operating in autonomous mode, the company suspended all of its testing operations.
The decision to end testing in Arizona will cost about 300 workers their jobs but the 500-odd employees of Uber’s taxi service in Arizona won’t be affected.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey banned Uber from testing its self-driving prototypes in the state immediately following the fatal crash. This ban remains in effect.
“The governor’s focus has always been on what’s best for Arizonans and for public safety, not for any one company,” Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said.
According to Uber chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi, the company won’t bring its self-driving cars back to public roads until “a top-to-bottom safety review.” To ensure this happens, Uber recently hired one of the National Transportation Safety Board’s former chairmen, Christopher Hart, to completely review its self-driving car program.