After Uber crash, who is responsible when self-driving car gets in accident?
Mar 21, 2018, 4:55 AM
FILE - In this Dec. 13, 2016 file photo, an Uber driverless car is displayed in a garage in San Francisco. Uber suspended all of its self-driving testing Monday, March 19, 2018, after what is believed to be the first fatal pedestrian crash involving the vehicles. The testing has been going on for months in the Phoenix area, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Toronto as automakers and technology companies compete to be the first with the technology. Uber's testing was halted after police in a Phoenix suburb said one of its self-driving vehicles struck and killed a pedestrian overnight Sunday. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
(AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
PHOENIX — The deadly accident involving a self-driving Uber car in Tempe on Sunday raised questions over who was responsible if one of these cars was involved in a crash.
According to Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey’s office, the company that operated the self-driving car would be held responsible if, after an investigation, the self-driving car was found to be at fault.
“We require that these vehicles operate in compliance with all traffic and driving laws just like any other vehicle,” said Daniel Scarpinato, a spokesman for Ducey.
“It’s not an option, it’s a requirement.”
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Ducey issued an executive order earlier this month that addressed safety guidelines for self-driving cars and how law enforcement should treat them.
Under the order, companies operating self-driving cars must have registered with the Arizona Department of Transportation.
The order also tasked ADOT to work with other law enforcement agencies to come up with protocols on how to deal with self-driving cars during various circumstances, including during emergency and traffic enforcement situations.
“Our expectation is that law enforcement use the same traffic laws and driving laws towards an autonomous vehicle that they would towards any other vehicle and that they be held accountable under the law – cited, ticketed – the same way that anyone else would,” Scarpinato said.
Self-driving cars have been on Valley roads for about a year. Uber started to send its self-driving Volvos onto streets in Feb. 2017.
On Sunday night, one of Uber’s self-driving cars struck and killed a woman walking a Tempe street.
An Uber employee was in the driver’s seat but the car was operating in autonomous mode.
Quentin G. Mehr, a spokesman with the Arizona Department of Public Safety, said the law enforcement agency who investigates traffic collisions should determine if any laws were violated and handle it accordingly.
Mehr said collisions resulting in an injury or damage to a vehicle or other property are typically handled through the parties’ respective insurance companies.
Scarpinato said the governor wants an investigation into the deadly accident to be done “quickly and with urgency.”
“He thinks it’s important and wants to make sure that we get all the facts in this case,” Scarpinato said.
