A few days ago, a woman was killed after being hit by one of Uber’s self-driving cars. In response to this tragedy, Toyota self-driving car testing has been paused. The Japanese automaker’s research division conducts autonomous driving tests in California and Michigan.
The county attorney in Tempe is waiting for the results of investigation. Any decision regarding self-driving operations being conducted by Uber and other companies will be scrutinized after the result. Whether Uber will be charged for murder is yet to be decided. The company has announced full cooperation with the authorities via their Twitter account.
Interviewing the Tempe police on the case, San Francisco Chronicles found out that after reviewing the initial accident footage Uber does not look to be at fault and that the accident was caused due to other reasons that will be scrutinized in detail.
Toyota self-driving car is being repeatedly tested to perfection by the Toyota Research Institute. The automaker, according to some reports, has showed willingness to acquire Uber’s self-driving car technology. However, this seems likely only if and when Uber clears its name from the trouble surrounding the death of the woman. Other automakers who have any sort of relationship with Uber, like Mercedes-Benz and Volvo, have not yet commented on the status of their partnership.