Uber Suspends Self-Driving Car Tests Following Fatal Accident

Uber Inc. has suspended all self-driving testing after one of its specially equipped Volvo XC90 crossover vehicles operating in autonomous mode struck and killed a pedestrian Sunday night in Tempe, Ariz.

The vehicle reportedly struck a 49-year-old woman as she walked her bicycle across a street outside of the crosswalk area. The woman was transported to a nearby hospital, where she later died from unspecified injuries.

A human backup driver was in the vehicle at the time of the accident but was not controlling the car. No other details have been released.

Local police and the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating the accident. Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi expressed his condolences via a Twitter post and said the company is cooperating with the investigations.

The ride-hailing company, which has been testing autonomous vehicles in Phoenix/Tempe and three other North American cities for more than a year, briefly suspended the tests last March after a non-fatal crash. Tests resumed after it was determined the autonomous Uber wasn’t at fault in the accident.

Earlier this year Arizona Governor Doug Ducey issued an executive order that allows self-driving vehicles to operate without a backup driver. Alphabet Inc.’s Waymo unit recently began such tests with consumers.